


walking with each other think we'll never match at all (but we do)

by larryjohnlock



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Blow Jobs, Cruise!AU, DEAL WITH IT, Flirting, Fluff, Gay Sex, Is that a thing, Kissing, M/M, Pining, Sexual Content, Smut, Top!Harry, bottom!Louis, cliches, harry too, louis is stupid, rich boy!harry, slight angst, waiter!Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-10 03:53:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1154547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larryjohnlock/pseuds/larryjohnlock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis, along with Niall & Zayn, gets a job on a luxury cruise from Southampton to New York.<br/>Harry's the son to a businessman. </p><p>They meet when Louis is serving Harry's table. </p><p>This is just something dumb that turned out longer than it should've. So. A little bit of angst, a little bit of sex but mostly just Harry and Louis on a boat. And in a kareoke-bar.</p><p>Title from <b> Adele's My same</b>, just so you know :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	walking with each other think we'll never match at all (but we do)

**Author's Note:**

> like i said, this turned out longer than _anything_ i've ever written. kinda nervous to post it because i feel like i can't write long stuff. 
> 
> but here goes nothing, enjoy it..?

 

The job wasn't the greatest. The pay wasn't the greatest. Nothing about it seemed really great to be completely honest. But it was the best offer he has had in months. Being broke, unemployed and having a rent that needed to be payed, things got desperate quickly. Louis wondered how things got this way to begin with.

At 21 he had finished UNI, studied Drama and English. He went to London University, left Doncaster far behind with no more than few tears. Sure he'd love to stay home, with his mum and all the sisters, but he wanted to see other places. He didn't want to live in Doncaster forever, no, London was the best option. At least that's what he thought. And he did have a great time there, he really did. He'd moved in with both Zayn and Niall, his two very best friends. The combo of three all worked at different places while they were studying, and shared the same flat, everything being absolutely perfect. But somehow things changed after UNI. Jobs were lost, quickly replaced by others though, but nothing ever really lasted. So he was 21 in a world that didn't satisfy him, along with his two mates who wanted nothing but Louis to be satisfied. (And maybe themselves too.)

*~*  


Louis had just been sacked from the local Starbucks, when he saw the ad in the paper he was skimming through while waiting for the bus home. It was an ad about a cruise, searching for waiters and diverse other of services. He didn't think much about it then, mostly he was looking for what the pay actually was, which wasn't much, but he could definitely need it.

He had slammed the newspaper on the desk when he got home, right in front of both Niall and Zayn who jumped high.  
  
"We're gonna work on a cruise, boys", Louis told them excitedly. They had both shook their heads, claiming that they would never,ever do that. But, people had always said that Louis had his way with words, and somehow he'd talked them into actually liking the idea.

The cruise left from Southampton and was on its way to New York. Louis had grinned wildly, "Isn't going to be amazing to cruise all the way to fucking New York?", and yeah, Zayn and Niall did agree on that. The whole trip would take thirteen days. Six days to New York, one night in New York, and then six more days home. The woman he spoke to on the phone had told them that they would probably work as waiters all three of them, maybe doing some minor other things like being the pool boy or mix smoothies. They all agreed on that, and some numbers-exchanging and personal details later, they were employed.

Zayn and Niall didn't quite have jobs, they'd take something small and short-lived just to make up their share of the rent, but nothing permanent. The bags had been packed almost the very same night, considering they would leave in a matter of four days. They had been told that they were among the last ones to get the jobs, also that they would be sharing a small cabin all three of them. They didn't mind that at all really, they could share the same bed too for all they cared about.

That night, Louis fell asleep with a stir of emotions in his stomach, not sure if all of them were happy ones, but definitely excited ones.

*~*  


They decided to take the train to Southampton. The lady on the phone had wanted them there around 10 AM, so early rise it was. It seemed much easier to take the train, neither of them wanted to pay for parking or something when they'd be gone for nearly two weeks.  
  
 _Two weeks_. Louis couldn't keep the smile off his face, even though he was quite nervous too. What if he'd screw up or something? Well. He's going to be stuck on a boat, they couldn't really throw him off in the middle of the ocean? Perhaps they did that with the staff who screwed up. _No that's ridiculous Louis c'mon,_ he thought while he took some deep breaths. Zayn must've noticed how Louis was in deep thoughts, because he leaned over from his seat in front of Louis, and squeezed his knee gently.  
  
"We're gonna be alright, everything's gonna be fine, Lou", and with that soft voice and blinding smile, Louis really wanted to believe him.

Thing was, Louis _had_ expected the boat to be big. Like, big. But that boat that was right in front of him, was more than big. It was colossal, tremendous, bigger than anything big Louis had ever seen in his entire life. He felt so unbelievably small when he was walking into it through a couple of gates and he honestly didn't even know if it was the right way. Just followed the large amount of what he assumed was the rest of the staff. There were a lot, a lot, a _lot_ of people.  
  
Girls, boys, elder men and women. Louis had always liked it around people, most of the time, he could sit at a Café and just observe the people walking outside the window. He'd made it a game, where he would guess that persons life, how they were as a person and so on. He liked it.

Louis, Niall and Zayn had to report themselves before they would walk aboard, showed off their ID's before they all three recieved a tiny, blue plastic card. Before they could ask any further questions about it, they were shooed away by the lady who had handed them their cards, with the promise of ' _you'll get to know what it does soon enough. just hold on tight to it and don't drop it!!_ '. Okay. Great.

The thing they walked through with their suitcases dragging along behind them, looked much like a really long tunnel. They passed small windows now and then, letting them know that they still weren't inside the ship, simply still walking into it. A small man with a suit on and no hair was welcoming them at the end, instructed them to move further in, directing them towards a larger room, with higher roof.

The room was filled with chairs and tables. A red carpet was covering the entire floor, blood red curtains matching it. The chairs and tables were in very dark wood, looking over-all really fancy. There was no doubt that they were in a dining-hall, probably the one they were going to work in. There weren't quite the number of tables Louis had imagined though, only like, a hundred people were going to fit around the tables. It was a very large room though, open and fresh with enormous windows along the long sides of the ship, and the bright sea looked very welcoming, Louis thought for a brief second.

The group of people, around a couple of hundred without any hesitation, stood partly snaked around the tables, heads turned to a good-looking man standing on a small stage. He cleared his throat once the flow of people coming inside had stopped.

"Hello everybody. My name's Liam Payne. I'm the one in charge here, over the breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm just gonna go through some stuff before I'll send you all to your rooms and let you unpack, alright?"

The people closest to him nodded, while the other ones hummed quietly in response.

"Alright great. First of all, welcome aboard on Queen Mary 2! 'S a bit exciting with new faces around here. Erm, so. You all will be doing a bit different tasks. Some of you are chefs, and I presume you know where you're going to be? The rest of you will be either doing some minor things around the whole boat, mostly serving or work in the bars or something similar. They're all very easy things, nothing that takes a lot of training, I promise."

"So that'll be sorted out once you come back after unpacking. Now, about that little plastic card you've all gotten. That card unlocks all the doors you have access for. It's mostly to all the rooms here," he did a circling motion with his hand to emphasize that he meant the dinner-rooms, "but also to other things like the pool, game rooms, things like that. Laundry rooms too, certain other storage rooms or somewhat. The keys to your own rooms is right here with me, so if you could all form a line and you'll get it. You may share room with some people, but it's at least the same gender as you! So please, a line here."

Louis had stood there quietly, not wanting to miss any crucial information. The people began to shuffle around him, forming a line and Louis just clung on tightly to both Niall and Zayn.

A good fifteen minutes later, it was their turn.  
  
"Okay guys, you were the last three to get employed, so you all get to share a room. That all right with you?" Liam had said and of course it was. Louis wouldn't want to share a room with any other than the two he loves the most. Except his family, but Zayn and Niall could probably be considered family. However, they all three got another separate little plastic card with their cabin-number on it and which deck it was on.

There was all in total 17 decks, 13 of them being passenger decks. Louis, Niall and Zayn was on the third deck, which was not at the very bottom (obviously), but it was quite deep down. Deck 6-13 was for paying passengers, while deck 2-5 was for the entire staff excluding the captain and his men. The absolute first deck was for the cars, for the people who only bought a single ticket to New York.

After scurrying their way through the decks without the use of the elevators (they took forever since everyone else was using them), their thighs were straining from walking down all those stairs, even up sometimes, but they _finally_ managed to reach their bloody cabin. Finally being the keyword in that sentence.

"C'mon Niall, open it already", Zayn whined from behind Niall who fished out his card from his pocket.  
"Shut up Zayn, won't go any faster if y'keep on whinin' like a little bitch"  
"Shut up both of you, m'thighs are _killing_ me", Louis exclaimed as the door opened and the three boys barged inside the tiny cabin. Because it was. Tiny, that is.

They didn't have a window. Probably because their deck was located under the water-surface. There were two bunk beds, slightly squishy mattresses but alright. It was...tolerable. They had a bathroom smaller than Louis' pinky (Louis had really small hands), and the shower space barely fitted a regular-sized human (Which Louis wasn't because he even was a small person, not just the hands). A small nightstand was placed between the lower beds, and a small wardrobe just when you walked in.

"So", Zayn began, "This is quite tiny."  
  
They all sat on the lower beds, Niall and Zayn on one while Louis sat on the opposite one.  
  
"Masterly observed Sherlock, quite sharp are you?", Louis teased and skilfully avoided the pillow that was being thrown at him.  
  
"You prick, shut up. It is."  
  
"Yeah but," Louis tossed the pillow back, "It'll be fun, don't you think? Don't say that I lured you here and now you want to go home."  
  
"'M not saying I want to go home, just," Zayn shrugged one shoulder.  
  
"Zaynieboi, give this a chance, okay? You can come crying on m'shoulder whenever but give it a chance," Louis pouted by now, "please? For me?"  
  
Niall laughed hard from beside Zayn, who sighed even louder.  
  
"For you Boo Bear."  
"Don't call me that!"  
  
And the pillow fight was on.

They had been given instructions to be back at the large dinner-room in two hours, which was at 1 PM, and they all had been having a massive pillow fight during that time. Quite exhausting, really.

 

The huge room was once again filled with all those people, Liam standing back on the stage in his suit and bow, before clearing his throat again. The crowd responded immediately with silence.

"So now you'll be given your task for this evening. The first dinner on the cruise along with the last, is usually the biggest so be prepared for that. Thing is, this dinner-hall is only for 300 of all the guests. Only the very important people or friends of the Captain's going to eat in this room. That explains why there are only around 50 tables in here. Okay? All the chefs, please walk into the kitchen to get your instructions, the rest of you stay here with me."

An impressive share of people disappeared behind the swing doors that presumably led into the kitchen. So. There were still a lot of people left though.

"Okay so form four lines this time, okay? Around here, here, here and here." He pointed to four different spots on the floor, people began shuffling around again, just like last time.  
"So me and a few other people are going to give you your work for today, but you're probably going to do it tomorrow too if nothing's changed or if anyone else is missing or somewhat."

The line moved quickly, now that there were four lines and just not one, and pretty quick Louis was at the front, waiting to get called by the elder lady he was going to assign him his work.  
  
"Okay, next", The lady called, and Louis quickly walked up to her.  
  
"What's your name?" Probably a rhetorical question, she wouldn't remember it.  
"Louis", he answered.  
  
"You have a pretty face," she pondered and Louis didn't know whether to be flattered or disgusted, "You'll be a great waiter!"

And just like that, he was a waiter.  


*~*  


Well. The three of them would still be stuck together, since all of them had been assigned to work as waiters in that dinner-hall. And that was no problem at all, considering that it in fact was a job they've actually done before and it wasn't that hard. But this boat did seem quite posh, maybe there was going to be a lot of snobby people aboard? However, Louis was determined not to screw up anything, or make a mistake, because this was such a great opportunity. Being able to serve your way all the way to New York and back to England, pretty amazing, he thought. And apparently said. Out loud.

"'S still just a job, Louis." Niall murmured from the top bunk. They decided to relax until dinner, since that was when the actual work started for them. At 5 PM they were ordered to be back down at the dining-room to set the tables.

"Yeah I know, but, it's just so exciting, innit?" Louis peeked out from his lower bunk to smile at Niall.  
  
"Work's not exciting," Niall huffed. "'S just work."  
  
"Well Louis's apparently _excited_ 'bout workin'. Never thought you'd say that in your life, did you Ni?" Zayn grunted from where his face was pushed down into his pillow in the bottom bunk across from Niall.  
  
"Aw c'mon boys, don't be like that. In six days, we'll be in bloody New York!" Louis face lit up in the biggest smile he'd ever had, a swoop of joy whirled in his stomach.  
  
"Yeah and in 13 we'll be back home", Niall stated tiredly.  
  
"Okay Ni, let Lou be excited about workin', it's funny while it lasts."  
  
"Oh it'll last", Louis laughed but they weren't listening anymore. So Louis just turned around to get one more hour of sleep before work.

*~*

Thing was, the dining room had looked pretty crowded with all the staff in it. People squirming in their place, glancing annoyingly at each other when you accidentally touched them more than necessary. But right now, it looked quite peaceful actually, like the idea of putting way too many people at once in the room never had existed.

The tables had took forever to set up. Plates to every single guest, forks , knives and some tiny spoons ad infinitum. Louis was pretty sure he had never seen so many pieces of silverware ever in his life, and his mum had at least one enormous dinner party every year. Still, did not top the amount of glasses he had been putting on each table. They weren't alone though, no, but not far from. Appearantly the servant per table was only one, so there were 50 of them to set up all the 300 seats. Louis thought that maybe the rest of the giant crowd he'd met earlier really did get assigned to somewhere else. Maybe they cleaned toilets somewhere, or served Margaritas to elderly ladies in a bar in a dim club even though the sun still stood high on the sky.

Zayn, himself and Niall had been glancing towards each other in between placing out forks and knives, trying to make a conversation which always turned out to be extremely short-lived. The instructions from mr. Payne himself had been very clear; " _Get this job done quick. The quicker the better, eh?_ " So there was no room for small talking.

And even without the pleasant chatter they'd like to exchange, it still took a ridiculous hour and a half to get all the tables done, and don't forget that they neatly put out serviettes next to every pair of knife and fork. So the clock was half past six when they were ushered into the kitchen.

"Okay, listen up everybody!"

Liam's deep voice made the heads turn towards him, who stood precisely inside the swing doors they all had walked through.

"The dinner is just about to start, so when I come back and inform you that everyone is in fact seated, you'll bring out the starters. You have all been assigned to one table, which you'll be working on by yourself, the entire evening. And drinks have been taken care of already, so don't bother."

Some scattered grunts echoed in the kitchen which was in full speed, the scent of food was almost too overwhelming for Louis stomach. It smelled delicious.

"You see, only the prettiest faces get to serve these people, boy or girl. So you should be proud, and expect to continue to work here during the entire trip. You might be taking some different jobs during the day but that's not important right now. The number of your table is right outside these door," He raised a thumb and with it he motioned at the door behind him, "You'll se a small sign with your name, and then your number next to it along with a map of the tables with the numbers on them. You'll rotate tables every night, so that you'll meet new people. Capisce?"

Everyone nodded, some people made their way through the others to ask Liam some questions before he went out to see if everyone had found their place.

"You nervous?" Niall turned around so that he was facing both Zayn and Louis. Zayn shook his head no, while Louis did the exact opposite.  
  
"What? Lou, no. Don't be, honeybee", Zayn cooed as he slung his arms over Louis' shoulder, creating a somewhat half-armed hug where he squeezed Louis' shoulder, tried to be comforting.  
  
"You heard him, right? Only the prettiest faces? Gosh that's bullshit", Louis murmured with his gaze fixed on the floor. "I mean, you two are without any doubt the prettiest here," he quickly added before they could say something, "But 'M certainly not, my god."  
  
Niall sighed, laid his hand atop of Zayn's who was still on Louis' shoulder, the other one on the other shoulder and forced Louis to look him in the eye.

"Look Lou, don't be stupid here. I know this's just your fuckin' nerves speaking because both you and I and certainly Zayn must know that you are the prettiest one here. You're just fishing for compliments right now, okay?"

It took a second before Louis was folding in half, leaning over and let his forehead fall onto right above Niall's collarbones and just laughed. Both Zayn and Niall joined in too, standing on the outskirts of the fifty waiters and laughed as if no one was actually there.

"God I love you, y'know that right?" Louis chuckled as the laughing eventually came to an end, right before Liam barged inside the doors with a loud proclamation;

"They're all seated! Let's get this dinner started, alright?"

And fuck, he clapped his hand like in all the shows and movies on TV, and continued the yelling; "Chop chop! C'mon, I've got people waiting."

Louis wasn't annoyed by him, _much_. Anyhow, now was his time to shine, and after that surprisingly good pep-talk from Niall, and Zayn, he kinda felt better about himself. He had a pretty face, let's put it work.

The fifty boys and girls lined up behind the counter where the plates with the starters on them began to get pushed out for them to grab. Quick as the lightning the queue became shorter, until it was Louis turn to take two plates with shrimp cocktails on them, presented very beautifully and it certainly looked delicious. Louis felt a bit weird though, thinking compliments about food.

He swayed his way out of the swing doors, only to stop at the little sign just outside the door to see what number he had. He shimmied through the names, before he reached his own. _Table three_. Okay, that was okay. He looked at the map and figured out that he had one of the tables that were lined up near the windows on the other side of the room. Sighing, complaining mentally about _why on earth he got the table farthest away from the kitchen, my god why why why_ as he wandered through the other tables.

The people were dressed nicely, many of the men wore suits and mostly accompanied with beautiful ladies in evening gowns. He tried his best to keep the plates still and intact, when he (finally) reached his table for the night. The six people looked much like anybody else he'd been passing on his way to get here, gowns and suits with smiles nearly blinding poor Louis as he placed the plates in front of the people closest to him.

"..told me that her cat had died. Rather sad actually", a girl with long, blonde hair spoke softly as Louis placed one of the plates in front of her, and the other one he placed in front of the another lady next to her. She had dark hair, black it seemed in this faint lightning as she listened idly to the blonde girl talking.

Louis didn't stay long, nor did he notice the other people around the table this time.  
  
"..got a cute one didn't we, eh?" The blonde one, he thinks, chirped as he walked off again, towards the kitchen. But if she meant him or something else, he didn't let himself to think about that.

Next time he approached them, this time things moved a lot quicker in the kitchen including the whole walk towards _his_ table, he had two new cocktails in his hands. He put them down next to the black-haired lady, in front of a man he presumed was her husband, and in front of another middle-aged man who thanked him. Only two to go then. Louis cheered himself on, thanking whatever god existed that he hadn't screwed up yet. _You have two other courses to serve, don't get too excited_. So he didn't.

The last two cocktails went out quickly, and this time he really got a good look of the people he was serving. The first one was a ginger-haired guy, not much older than himself, with warm eyes and a polite manner. (He thanked Louis). The other one, god how could Louis not have noticed him before.

The quick second he looks up while still putting the plate down in front of his friend(?), he meets eyes greener than he'd ever seen before, almost outshining his sparkling smile he probably meant to shot off towards his friend. _Definitely not Louis._ But he's okay with that.  
  
The bloke's hair's styled up into a quiff, might even be challenging Zayn's, but Louis suspected beautiful, brown curls underneath it. His lips were stretched wide, still hinting their plumpness and the colour, is _obscene_. Redder than the wine the dark-haired lady sips at, not fully as dark as it but more towards the cherry-red kinda way. They contrasted amazingly against his fair skin, and Louis almost forgot about the cocktail he still got in his hands.

Swear-words travels through his mind, and he hopes they stay in there otherwise things would turn out awkward, as he managed to put the final cocktail down in front of the boy with lips red as cherry and then he's off the fastest he can without actually running.  
  
Behing the safe embrace of the swing doors, he exhaled slowly. And one more time, before Zayn's head is popping up in front of him.  
"Did it go okay? You alright mate?"

Louis wants to hug him, because he's _Zayn_ and he's always so sweet but he merely gets out a small nod and something resembling a whisper of, "'M okay."  
"You sure?" Zayn frowned worriedly.  
  
"Yeah 'm sure. Just. Y'know, nerves and all that."  
  
Zayn smiled warmly, "Hey none of that, it probably went great. Just two courses to go, yeah? And we'll meet up here after, okay? And walk to the cabin together."  
  
"Yeah of course." Louis nodded once, before, "And um, how did it go for you then?"  
  
"I think it went alright, didn't drop anything and didn't say anything, so." He shrugged.  
  
"That's great Zayn. Sorry for being so, I don't know, weird? Just. Been a while since I worked as a waiter and, not really used to _this kind_ of people really." Louis dropped his gaze to the floor for a second.  
  
"You're doing great, 'm sure of it. 'M not used to so dressed up people either, lucky we've got pretty faces", Zayn joked and Louis couldn't contain the small that spread on his lips.  
  
"So chill okay, 's just the first night, it's alright to be nervous an' shit."  
  
"Yeah. Okay. I can do this."  
  
"Wrong, _we_ can do this. Or, haven't seen Niall in a while but, 'm sure he's fine too." Zayn looked around in the kitchen, but, no Niall in sight.  
  
"I saw him before, looked great actually."

  
"That's great. But I think we have to like, get the empty plates, yeah? Like now?" They looked out of the small, round window on the swing door and stated that most of the guest in fact were finished, so no time to waste, Louis took a deep breath and followed Zayn out to the room.

He swiftly collected the plates, got some compliments from the dark-haired lady with one of the elder men agreeing wholeheartedly. He thanked them sweetly, smiled during the entire time as he picked up the next empty plate after the other. Maybe it grew ever so slightly bigger as the green, vibrant eyes met his again, and maybe it was because of the equally blinding smile he had on his cherry-red lips. Maybe.

Main course went smooth, now that he'd gotten the hang of it. Slid smoothly through the swing doors, slid smoothly over the red carpet as he walked, and finished of just as smoothly as he placed the hot plates with a salmon-dish on it down on the table. Even if he this time didn't quite catch the green eyes, he felt them burn in the corner of his eyes whilst he put the last plates down, and definitely on his back (might even be his bum for all he cares) as he made his way back to the kitchen.

He didn't see Zayn nor Niall in between main course and desert, he thought that he might've spotted Niall's blonde quiff through the crowd of waiters in the kitchen, but he wasn't sure. However, as the deserts were started to ship out, he had just come back with the empty plates from his table. This evening wasn't that bad really, nothing had gone wrong, _yet_ though, but over all everything seemed good. Might even seem great.

But he still had desert to go, something very chocolat-y was presented on the plates, and he mindlessly grabbed two from the counter. Walked down the route that almost began to feel familiar, as he placed the two deserts in front of the dark-haired lady and the blonde one. They seemed pleased as he heard some comments about ' _chocolate? that's fucking great_ ' by the blonde one who immediately got scolded by the older lady. Maybe that's her mother. He continued to ship out the rest of the deserts, might've smiled towards the handsome young man who even might've smiled back.

Last couple of deserts were out, and Louis felt his chest lighten as he walked back to the kitchen for a final time. He'd managed an entire evening without screwing up, not dropping anything or said anything embarrassing. Haven't said much at all really but, that still counts. He was happy, satisfied, and the people at his table had looked satisfied as well. So.

Zayn and Niall came in a couple of minutes later, both with smiles on their faces as they approached Louis who was leaning against a counter.  
"We're done!" Niall exclaimed and threw one fist up on the air and began to pump it lamely.  
  
"I know, feels kinda good, doesn't it?" Louis smiled at Niall, who nodded eagerly.  
  
"Yeah and apparently they have other staff takin' care of the dishes now, so we're free to go. We have to be here by twelve tomorrow though, lunch is at 1 PM", Zayn said.  
  
"Alright, twelve, we can totally do that. Now c'mon, let's head back to the cabin, 'M knackered."

And with that they strolled down to their cabin, completely ignoring the fully capable elevators as they skipped down the stairs again.

*~*

When he opened his eyes, all that ran through his mind was; _God these beds are uncomfortable_. Because they were. A thin mattress is all they've got, and suddenly he missed his bed at _home_ more than anything. The loud snore from Niall below him though, interrupted his train of thoughts as he leaned over the rail to glance down at him. The blonde was still fast asleep, cover thrown on the floor probably around midnight somewhere, and pillow squished against the wall and definitely not under his head as it's supposed to be. But he's cute, snoring and even all the way from up here, Louis thinks he might see some drool shimmering on the sheet. He's fine with that.

They all know they have to be down at the dinner room by twelve, but the clock is no more than ten which leaves plenty of time to both shower and get dressed. They got their 'waiter-clothing' yesterday, got instructed to take it down with them to the cabin and leave it for washing when they dock in New York. It's a simple white shirt with a black west, big buttons in the front. Black, tight pants also came along.  
Though they weren't tight on Louis, no, they're actually quite loose. His pockets were bulging and exposed whatever he had in them whenever he bendt forward, and only when he crouched it strained perfectly against his bum and thighs, but unfortunately not when he's standing up normally. But he's way to lazy to ask for a new pair, it didn't matter at all.

"Hey," Zayn tried to get their attention before they were headed out, and he succeeded, "What did you think about yesterday? Was pretty knackered last night so I didn't have any time to ask b'fore I was snoring, sorry".

Niall, who was buttoning his shirt, looked up for a second and smiled wide.  
"I did great, this one lady at my table was really great. She was like, an old lady, but she was very cheerful and polite." Zayn chuckled at that.  
  
"And Zayn you know how I did, which is, absolutely perfect", Louis yelled from the bathroom, where he was attempting to mess up his already messy fringe even more.  
"Yeah alright. Let's go, we've got lunch to serve ladies."

The three of them scampered their way up to the dinner-room, looking slightly different in the broad day light unlike the dark lightning there was yesterday evening. Which, was kinda obvious. The large windows showed off the amazing view, and Louis resisted the urge to press his nose against the cold glass, in a pathetic attempt to get _closer_ to the whirling sea underneath them. He reckon that if he jumped from here, it'd be a pretty long fall until he actually hit the surface, that's how far up they were.

Liam's bossing them around, telling them how lunch's different from dinner.  
  
"During lunch we have an open buffet. You do not go around and serve them their food, you take their plates if their finished and cleans up whatever they spill. They have a drink bar over there," a pause to point to the large drink bar which Louis would love to have a meeting with, "so you don't have to fill their glasses during lunch either. This is a bit... _calmer_ than dinner, and most of the time you'll probably stand in the kitchen and look pretty. Alright?"

"Oh, and before I forget; You don't have a special table during lunch. Just, take turns so you don't storm out all fifty at once, okay? Like I said, this is much calmer but, it's important too. And you know we'll see each other at 5 PM again, just like last night."

He continued a bit, explained and showed were the buffet was and how the passengers was taking their own plates, forks and knives now. Louis wanted to scream out of joy almost, relieved that he didn't have to set all these tables _two_ times a day.

And Liam was right, lunch was much calmer than dinner. And yes, Louis did for the most of the time stand in the kitchen, talking so Niall or Zayn if they weren't out on a round to check if there was some plates to pick up or trash to be thrown in the garbage. The green-eyed handsome bloke from yesterday wasn't there, not that Louis was looking for him. Because he wasn't.

*~*

 

Lunch was over rather slowly. People took their time visiting the lovely buffet the were offering. And when everything was cleaned up and the dishes put away in the kitchen, all the waiter was offered lunch too. It was included in their job, just like how they were offered breakfast at 8 AM if anyone were up by then. Which, Louis never were. So.

The three of them ate as much as they could muster, felt like their stomachs would probably burst by the end of the last piece of meat they had on their plate. But, Niall was satisfied, or, he threw some regretful glances towards the buffet as they walked out the doors and Zayn had to promise him they were going to eat even more tomorrow.

They had an hour before they were being called down again, setting the tables and getting ready for dinner. Louis wasn't excited today, no, he was kinda over that feeling by now. It wasn't horrible either, far from actually, but as Niall had said; _'It's just a job'_. And he was fine with it.

By the time it was time for dinner, for the actual work to start, they had been exploring the boat as far as they could. You see, the boat was enormous, bigger than Louis had ever expected. Thing was, there were so many rooms and activities you could actually to aboard, like singing kareoke or take a trip down to the swimming pool.  
  
Which, by the way, was quite warm and quite lovely. Louis had concluded that even though he only dipped his toe in it. There were also a number of different restaurants, both cheap ones and expensive ones.  
  
Otherwise you could grab a deckchair and work on your tan, if you'd like. Louis had glanced at his arm when he saw those, and yeah, maybe he could use some colour. Come back to England with a fresh tan, say you've been on a luxury cruise. And skip the part where you tell them that you served posh people. Maybe.

  
Dinner went much like yesterday. New courses though, surprise surprise. Still had the fish theme going on, but Louis did not recognize the fish on the plate in his hands. And when Liam had said ' _rotating the tables_ ' , what he really meant was ' _switching it to the table next to the one you had yesterday_ ' , and that didn't make Louis' job any easier.

Compared to lunch, where the green-eyed hottie weren't present, he was in fact very much present now, looking even better than yesterday. His curls weren't styled up as much, leaving some of them to hang freely around his face. His lips were no longer as red, more pink now but his smile was just as blinding as before. He was dressed up as yesterday, change of shirt maybe, but Louis was most certainly not looking at his clothes.  
  
Even all the way from the other table, when Louis put down the plates in front of people he hadn't even spared a glance, the strangers dimple was showing off when he fired of a smirk. Towards Louis. For sure.

He may or may not be hyperventilating on his way back into the kitchen.

   


As the silence began to spread uncomfortably in the room, Niall broke it.

"Have you seen any fit bird around here then?"

Both Louis and Zayn huffed out a laugh, creeped closer to the edge of their bunks to be able to see the rest of them.  
  
"Nah man, haven't gotten the time to you know, _really_ look", Zayn said and Louis thinks he might've shrugged.  
  
"You know Niall, that 'm not looking for any _birds_ ", Louis replied and Niall sighed.  
  
"Well do you know that there are male birds too? Ever though of that?"  
  
"Yeah yeah, well. No. Like Zayn said, haven't had the time," Louis felt his heart race as green flashed in front of his eyes, "Yet though."  
  
"How ''bout you Ni? Seen any _fit bird_?" Zayn mocked.  
  
"Yeah one. When we were out b'fore dinner. But, chances are we won't meet again. Big ship and all y'know."  
  
"Aw don't say that, she might show up at dinner some time. Maybe she already is there, you just haven't spotted her yet", Louis pointed out.  
  
"Mate, the only birds at dinner are either _really_ old ones or just old ones. Believe me, 've been checking."

It went silent for a couple of seconds, before they all broke out laughing hysterically.

"Shush you, they've probably got more money than you'll ever have Ni", Louis breathed out once the laughing faded away.  
  
"Yeah but, 's not 'bout the money is it? Sure she could buy me a Porsche but would I shag her? Nope. Never."  
  
"Alright Ni, keep on looking then, but 've heard cougars great in bed."  
  
"Louis for gods' sake, you're _gay_ ", Niall shouted as high as he dared to.  
  
"Yeah, Lou why on earth would you know _that_?" Zayn asked curiously.  
  
"I said 've _heard it_ , jeez, just 'cause 'm gay doesn't mean I don't have ears."  
  
"Whatever _wierdo_. 'M off to sleep, dream 'bout your cougars Lou," Niall mumbled and shuffled around in his bunk.  
  
"Yeah maybe I will", Louis retorted quietly, "G'night lads, see ya tomorrow."  
  
"Night", Zayn murmured before it went completely quiet.  
  
  
Only the sound of waves echoed somewhere far away when those piercing green eyes haunted Louis' dreams, not an old cougar.  


*~*

 

The morning came quickly, waves waking the sleeping boys up around ten, much like yesterday. Or maybe it was the loud thump Niall made when he fell out of made, making Louis jump up (being easily woken) in his bed and curse vehemently at a confused and half-naked Niall. Zayn was a heavy sleeper, noise louder than Niall falling off bed was much required to even make Zayn think about interrupting his beauty sleep. Louis didn't like to think about how maybe Zayn wouldn't even hear the fire alarm, or any other kind of alarm either for that matter.

Anyhow, they boys day went on much like yesterday. Niall kept his eyes open as they took a quick round on one of the decks before lunch, not the same one as yesterday, for a fit bird and constantly kept annoy both Louis and Zayn with questions like; _"Isn't she hot? " "Oh man, look at her! Isn't she the hottest ever?" " Look at that arse, man I'd like to -"_ and that's usually where one of the other boys would groan so loudly it thankfully shut down Niall's terrifying train of thoughts, maybe earned him a few punches too. (Okay maybe a lot.)

Lunch was over in a heartbeat, and Louis would like to say that even though it was only their third day aboard on Queen Mary 2, the routines were beginning to shape up. They got a good night of sleep, served people two times a day and the only bad thing were probably their stupid mattresses that were killing Louis' back. But that's it. Otherwise both the rest of the waiters were both nice and handsome, they all liked to chat in between servings and no one seemed to be especially shy. And that's exactly Louis' type of people, the ones what weren't that withdrawn or afraid to interact with another human. So, Louis liked it in the kitchen. Even the chefs were quite chatty whenever they were on a break or ducked down to tell a joke through the gap between the steaming kitchen and the space were the waiters anxiously waited for the plates to show up there on the counter.

And he didn't hear Zayn nor Niall complain either, so yeah, he really liked it here. But he felt ridiculous for missing Curly (it seemed like an appropriate nickname - sue him) at lunch, but something in his gut told him that maybe, maybe he'd be there during dinner.

  
Louis was right. Of course he's right, when was Louis ever wrong to begin with?

Curly sat at his usual spot, the ginger-haired bloke besides him with a humble smile playing on his lips as they spoke to each other. The two other elder men along with the two ladies were also engaged in a discussion, but it seemed much more serious than what Curly and Ginger were talking about.

Louis stood in the behind the swing door, glanced through the window and simply observed Curly. Kinda creepy, he must admit that, but - What Curly wouldn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? So, casually _observing_ Curly, he almost forgot he needed to bring out the starters. That until, a tap on his shoulder interrupted his staring. His creepy staring.

"You gon' take out those starters or what?" Zayn laughed as he pushed the swing door open with his back, walking out in the dinner room.  
Louis murmured apologizes to, well no one actually since Zayn was long gone, as he grabbed the plates with something he didn't recognize and followed Zayn's footsteps out the door.

Today he had the table besides the one he had yesterday, number five if he's not mistaken. Curly's gaze and his own was locked almost all the way up to the table, then it got quite hard to manage to put the plates down while having a staring contest with him. So he obviously lost, glanced at the people he was serving today and remembered to plaster a smile on his face. He didn't know how forced it actually was, as he caught Curly's eyes one more time and smiled for real, before he turned on his heels and walked back into the kitchen, hips swayed more than necessary. But if you'd ask him, he'd never admit that.

  
Everything went absolutely perfect. Starters were out and finished, plates were brought back into the kitchen, main course were eaten and the plates was on their way in. He had only two plates left when Curly waved at him. Wait what...waved? At Louis? Louis were halfway on his way to his own table, and froze immediately as soon as Curly nodded for him to come over.  
  
 _Me?_ Louis mouthed, pointed to himself and Curly only nodded and laughed. With an unexplainable lump in his throat, and maybe somewhere in his stomach too, Louis walked over to Curly's table just like he did the first night. Woah, Déjà Vu.

"Er, hi. Sorry for like, pulling you away from work or something." Curly spoke slowly. Slower than honey dripping down from a spoon. Well maybe he exaggerated a bit, but he did spoke slowly. And not just that, his voice were deeper than the water they were floating on right now. Wow.  
  
"No it's - It's okay as long as it doesn't take, well, _long_." Louis kept a wry smile on his face, watched how Curly squirmed in his seat. Okay, weird.  
  
"Great, 's just that -" Curly was cut short as he dropped his dessert spoon onto the floor besides his shoe somewhere. "Shit", he cursed and before Louis could even think about it he was dropping to his knees quicker than the light and (rather awkwardly) began to dig after the lost spoon. Which didn't stay lost for long, but it sure as hell was slippery in Louis' sweaty palms. He looked up from his knees, directly at Curly who's face was tinted delightfully red as Louis handed him the spoon and got back up from his knees.

"I - Thank you. Didn't mean to get you on your knees - I mean, what I wanted to ask you was, could you please give the chef my sincerest compliments 'bout the food?" The green eyes were almost no longer green, mostly black due to the dilated pupil which Louis would like to blame on his embarrassment but Louis wasn't quite sure about that. But, as the great waiter he is, he merely nodded and smiled as he answered.  
  
"Of course I will, and don't worry 'bout my knees; 'M used to it."

And he wasn't sure how _legal_ it was to flirt with your passengers, because it would be extremely ridiculous if he couldn't. Curly has practically been eyefucking him, totally, but he decided to keep it (rather) clean and with another small nod he walked away from Curly's table, ignored how Curly seemed surprised about his, er, statement. He picked up the last two dirty plates and apologized for the delay, which they waved off and said it was nothing to worry about.

The rest of the dinner went without any further incidents, only a lot more of those looks from Curly, looking even more suspicious now than before. Louis' smirk never got the chance to leave to face, Curly was always there to make it reappear on his lips. And he didn't mind, some harmless flirting with a rich boy. Nothing to be worried about, to quote the old lady who so kindly told him that earlier this evening.

  
When desert was over and the passengers had left, Louis was standing against the counter with Niall and waited for Zayn to show up anytime now. Niall went on and on about a lady who kept pinching his bum and laughing it off, but Louis didn't listen if he found it uncomfortable or if he enjoyed it. Either way, by the time Zayn showed up Niall had given up on telling Louis and recounted the story for Zayn instead.

Taking the stair had somehow become something natural for them, so whatever their intentions was, they always ended up taking the stairs, and tonight was no different. About halfway through the endless stairs, Louis pocket buzzed. Which was weird for many reasons.  
  
One: Pockets shouldn't buzz.  
Two: If they did, it meant there was a phone in them.  
Three: As far as Louis knew, his phone laid safely on the nightstand in their cabin.

So, naturally, Louis freaked out _just a little_ when he reached down his pocket to find that he in fact, had a fucking phone in it. A phone. Who was ringing. In. His. Pocket. The number was a lot of digits Louis' brain couldn't process, all he could conclude was that it wasn't his mother's number. Nor his father. Actually, it wasn't any number he even faintly recognized. Zayn and Niall had kept on walking for a bit, yelled at him to hurry the fuck up but Louis was frozen in his tracks, completely dumbfounded.  
  
And that was exactly how he answered the phone, dumbfounded as hell. Don't ask him why he did it, call it fate, good manner or whatever you'd like but if you hand Louis Tomlinson a phone that's ringing, he sure as hell's going to answer it.

"H-hello?" He stuttered out, silently praying that this was some stupid prank and he could probably ditch this phone in the next garbage can.  
"Hello there."

Louis would recognize that voice anywhere. Slow as honey, deeper than the ocean. Holy fuck.

"I - Why do I have your phone?" That honestly seemed the only reasonable thing to say, can't blame him though. A chuckle deeper than the ocean rumbled through the phone.  
"If you have my phone, then what am _I_ calling from?" Curly said.  
  
"I do - I don't know, your sisters phone?" Because that blonde one was definitely his sister, their smiles were exactly the same. Kinda scary now that he thinks about it.  
  
"So you guessed we were siblings, great. Not only pretty but you're smart too." If a smirk could be heard through a phone, this one echoed on the walls and bounced on every step of the stairs. Louis though, was taken aback by the unexpected compliment, and flushed immediately.  
  
"I - Thanks, but I don't understand what's going on, to be honest." Honesty was his only alternative in a situation like this, he didn't want to be blamed for stealing something he most certainly hadn't!  
  
"Then let me explain -"  
"Please do."  
"- _let me explain_ in half an hour. You can meet me on the top deck."  
  
Louis was baffled. And he was about a hundred per cent sure his jaw was starting to trail down the million of stairs that were left, all the way down to their cabin.  
  
"What?" He squeaked out. Good job Louis, he praised himself mentally.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be waiting for you in the front, there's some benches there I think", Curly mused mostly to himself. Louis took a couple of seconds to process the proposal.  
  
"Listen if you pull some Titanic shit on me I swear to -"  
  
"No I promise", Curly interrupted along with a soft laugh.  
  
"Alright. Half an hour. To explain.. _this_ " Louis said and motioned towards the phone pressed against his ear even though he knew Curly couldn't see it. Whatever.  
  
"Half an hour. See ya then, pretty boy."  
  
"Yeah, see you. Curly."

The click seemed to echo on the walls as well, as the phone call was set to an end. What the fuck just happened? Louis head was spinning like he was sea-sick, eyes were guaranteed crossing each other and jaw was still hanging. He gripped the rail tightly, feared that he might faint if he didn't. A fall down all these stairs wouldn't make his meeting with Curly less embarrassing. No, if he had a couple of black-eyes and a swollen face it surely wouldn't add to the nerves. What nerves? He was silly for having stupid nerves. This boy was just going to explain why his phone was in Louis pocket, or not his. His sisters perhaps. That's all.

That's all.

  
Niall and Zayn had left Louis there in the middle of the stairs, but Louis couldn't even bear to mind. He practically flew down the million of steps, astonished by the fact that he didn't trip over his feet. He swung their cabin door open, making the both guys jump and Niall screamed.

"The fuck you're doing? Are you crazy?" Niall screamed in fear, his heartbeat was heard all the way from where Louis was standing.  
  
"You won't believe me", Louis dead-panned as he closed the door behind me.  
  
"What's there to believe? That you scared the shit out of us? I believe that because you - " Louis raised his hands towards the rambling Niall, told him to shut the fuck up.  
  
"Listen, 'm meeting with a boy whose phone was in my pocket."  
  
That efficiently shut Niall up, but it also raised even more questions.  
  
"What boy? And what phone? What?" Zayn looked so confused Louis wanted to squish his cheeks together and kiss him on the nose but there were no time for that. Not at all.  
"My pocket rang, and there was a phone in it. And I answered."  
  
"Lou, you're not making much sense and stop throwing all your clothes around!" Zayn slapped whatever part of Louis' was in reach, which appeared to be his bum (no harm in that though). Louis glared at him for a second before he continued to raid suitcase on the floor, throwing whatever wasn't good enough onto Niall's bed.  
  
"Ow, Zayn! 'M trying to find some acceptable clothes, this bloke's posh, thank you very much." Louis rubbed his bum a bit, before continuing his clothes-searching.  
"Babe, you look great no matter what", Zayn reassured fondly, "But are you like, trying to impress him or something?"

Louis snapped his head up from his suitcase, fighting the blush that were beginning to creep up underneath his cheeks.

"No!" He exclaimed loudly. "Why would you even think that?" And then his nose were back in his suitcase, hoping the blush hadn't spread any further.  
  
"Because", Niall began, "You're trying way too hard." Niall nodded towards the pile of clothes on his bed, the ones who had been rejected.  
"Am not." Louis said stubbornly.  
  
"Am too darling, look at that." Zayn nodded too against the enormous pile, and Louis finally stopped digging through his remaining clothes.

"But, I can't come in my working clothes", he stated with a sigh.  
  
"No babe, but," Zayn kneeled besides him on the floor, glancing down in his suitcase, "You do have some clothes that'll do just fine. Perfect even."  
Louis stared at him, his whole face screaming _disbelief_. He sighed deeply once again.  
  
"'M overreacting", he concluded and got up from the floor. He began to take off his working clothes, placing them one after one onto his own bed.  
"Yes, so now, just pick a shirt and a pair of those skinny jeans and voilá. You're done. Finito. Finished. Ready. And every other synonym to that you can think of."

Louis could help but laugh at Niall. Niall always were so carefree, so happy. Life seemed so easy for him, every downside always had an upside for him. Which was great in times like these, when Louis completely overreacted to something that he shouldn't be worried about. At all.

  
How he ended up outside the door that lead out to the top deck half an hour later, he didn't know. He made it there, clothed thank you very much, and looked over all like he used to do, he supposed. The other two guys had assured him he looked absolutely fabulous, Niall being the one who said that his jeans made his arse look absolutely amazing. ( _"Aren't you straight as an arrow Niall deary?" "Can't deny when an ass looks good Lou, nothing to do with the fact if you 'ave a vagina or not"_ ) Louis had stopped him right there, shutting his eyes tight and begged Niall to shut his mouth equally as tight.

  
Anyhow. The sign next to the door handle read ' _pull_ ', and who was he to stand against the force of the hinges? So, he pulled the door open, embracing the breeze who brought the scent of the ocean with it. It was surely going to mess up his fringe, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Much.

The walk up to the front didn't take long, and he noticed how few people there actually was outside right now. At least on this deck. He occasionally ran into a smoker or two, standing alone, leaning over the rail and watched the dark sea beneath them. The sun was on its way down, coloured the sky orange along the waterline and fading out to pink further away. He was so caught up in the sky-watching that he almost missed the tall, lanky body standing at the very front of the boat. _Much like fucking Titanic._

He must've made some kind of noise or maybe read Louis' thoughts, because as soon he came closer to the guy, he spoke.  
"Titanic 's one of m' favorite films."

Louis rolled his eyes. He should've been expecting that one.

"Can't really blame you, Grease's one of mine." He shrugged casually as Curly turned around, and there was the silly, dopey, _gorgeous_ smile of his. Dimples and teeth included.

"I told you not to pull any Titanic-shit on me though", Louis continued.  
  
Curly raised one of his shoulder in a half-shrug, kept the smirk on his face.  
  
"Couldn't resist with this", he answered and pointed with his whole hand at the sunset in front of them. And all of this seemed so fucking kliché that it made Louis feel sick. Lucky Curly's cute.  
"Yeah, I get that."

After a couple of seconds of silence, Curly asked if Louis wanted to sit down on the bench behind them, which Louis gladly wanted.

"So what's up with this?" Louis asked, held out Curly's phone in his hand, waved it slightly in the air. Curly tensed up for a second, a lovely shade of red tinted his cheeks. Up close, Curly was even more gorgeous than before, and in this light his eyes shone differently than in the dim light at dinner. They were softer now, sparkling delightfully as they bore into Louis' own.

"I - uh, wanted to talk to you I guess."  
  
Louis scowled as he processed the words.  
"So you put your phone in my pocket and called it?" He did not understand what on earth Curly was doing. "And what's your name, Curly? "  
  
Curly barked out a laugh, quickly covering his mouth with his hands as the blush went redder. Louis felt how it twitched at the corner of his mouth.  
  
"'M sorry, I have better manner I promise", and Louis snorted at that, "'M Harry."  
  
Curl- _Harry_ offered him his hand which Louis gladly shook. He almost forgot to say his own name when he saw how big Harry's hand looked as it engulfed Louis' own.  
"'M Louis." Harry gave him a small nod, smile grew bigger and bigger.

"And that's not my phone. I called you from mine." He explained. Or, explained and explained, it raised more questions than it answered.  
  
"But whose phone's this then?" Louis furrowed his eyebrows as he looked down at the phone in his hands.

"It's - well, it's no ones. I bought it yesterday, so." Harry shrugged.  
  
"You - What, you just bought a fucking phone?" Louis felt his jaw drop. Well.  
  
"Yeah I -"  
  
"And you just wanted to do what? Talk to me?"  
  
Harry's blush was still there, even more prominent now as he nodded mutely.  
  
"Is this your flirting technique?" Louis asked before he laughed. "I don't know whether I should be impressed or like, creeped out, maybe?"  
  
"I'd prefer the former", Harry mumbled with a wry smile playing on his lips.  
  
"I'm honestly speechless. You bought a fucking phone?" Louis repeated, his voice going high at the end of the sentence.  
  
"'s no big deal, 's my parents money anyway and they won't mind." Harry shrugged again.  
  
"Well. Guess I'm kinda impressed then. It worked at least", Louis smiled, "I mean, we're talking now."  
  
"Guess we are," Harry said. "And, I didn't mean to creep you out y'know", Harry murmured almost bashfully, fiddled with his fingers in his lap

"You didn't!" Louis quickly assured. "I was just - I don't know, taken by surprise maybe? 'S kinda daring to buy a phone just to talk them. You could've just asked me."  
  
"Way to easy", Harry grinned, "I like to do something..Different. You seem like the kind of guy who likes that."  
  
"What, you made that out from eye-fucking me these last couple of days?" Louis snorted, not sure if that was something that should've been left unsaid. But. Whoops, he needed to invest in brain-to-mouth filter, definitely.  
  
"No, I just felt it or something. But yeah, maybe because of that too." And there that smirk was, all filthy and innocent at the same time with those green doe-eyes Harry had.  
"But I really do want to get to know you", he added.  
  
"Oh", was all Louis breathed out. He was, to say the least, surprised. This Harry-guy was richer than he'd ever be, posh and at the same time, kinda nice? He'd never expect one of these guys to actually be kind to one another, he'd always avoid them at any cost. Louis lost himself in his thoughts, not registering that Harry had spoken to him.  
  
"'M sorry, what?" Louis stuttered out wile he blinked a couple of time, re-focusing on Harry.  
  
"I said", Harry said slowly, "You wanna go higher?"  
  
"Higher? Where? This is top deck you know. Where 's higher?"  
  
Harry laughed softly, stood up and grasped Louis' hand in his.  
"You ask to many questions, c'mon, follow me."

Harry didn't listen to Louis' vague protests. And Louis didn't know why he even tried, since he so easily followed Harry wherever he was heading. Maybe that was because of the firm grip he had on his hand. Maybe. But however, Harry lead him to around the corner, where there were a ladder who went up even further up on the ship.

"Restricted area", Louis read out loud on the sign next to the ladder. Well.  
  
"C'mon then, up you go." Harry completely ignored what Louis had just said, ushered him up on the first steps.  
"Harry, we can't." Louis protested and froze where he was, two steps up.  
"Don't be ridiculous Lou, what're they going to do? Throw us in the ocean?"  
  
"Yes!" Louis squeaked, in horror.  
"'M pretty sure that's illegal", Harry chuckled.  
"'M pretty sure _this_ is illegal too!" Louis exclaimed and motioned with one of his hands towards the ladder.  
"Just c'mon Lou, before the sun's all the way down. _Please Louis_." And Harry pouted. He fucking pouted and Louis never signed up for that.

So, sighing deeply, Louis started to climb up the rest of the ladder.  
  
"Keep your eyes of my bum, will ya?" He said without looking back at Harry.  
"Too late for that, innit?" Harry's grin was audible from the top of the ladder too. Interesting fact.  
  
"Prick." Louis murmured to no one in particular, perhaps to himself. He reached the top of the ladder, and climbed up on the small platform. There was not much up there though, just plain floor made out of some type of metal, and a fence around it. Kinda useless, Louis thought as he walked up to the side of the fence that were directed towards the front of the boat.

The sunset looked even more amazing now, the orange being strongly prominent closest to the water. There weren't much longer before the sun would be swallowed by the dark ocean, and Louis just inhaled deeply as Harry walked up next to him.  
  
"Beautiful, innit?" He said quietly. Louis only hummed in response, letting his eyes drift shut as the smell of the sea overwhelmed him.  
"So Louis", Harry continued in a lighter tone, "tell me about yourself."

And just like Louis couldn't remember how he managed to get up to the top deck to begin with, Louis couldn't remember much of their conversation that night. He had told Harry about himself, sharing crazy and funny stories about both himself and Zayn and Niall. He told him about the two lads he worked here with, how they met and how long they've been best friends. He told him, not everything, just about himself in general terms, not really sure how much he could actually tell Harry.

But as soon as Louis voice faded away after a story or two, the silence didn't last long before Harry was starting to tell him a story of his own. He told him about his family, how they were on this trip because his father had a meeting in New York with a client or something. His father was apparently a business man, a good one too, who earned a lot of money and decided to take his entire family out on this cruise. He told him about the ginger-haired boy, Ed, who was his best friend since they were kids. He confirmed Louis theory of the blonde one being his sister, Gemma, and the dark-haired lady being his mum. One of the older men were his father, and the other one a colleague of his.

And Louis found himself listening closely to Harry, loved the way he articulated the words thoroughly, how those deep dimples sunk into his cheeks whenever he smiled or laughed. How the chill air swallowed his stories much like Louis did, and he liked the way Harry spoke carefully and how his hands accompanied the stories with rather weird gestures now and then.

When the sky were no longer orange, when it had turned black and a few stars were glimmering above them, Louis called it a night.  
  
"When will you be back at my table then?" Harry had asked when they had climbed down the ladder rather successfully, and were strolling their way back to the door that led inside.  
  
"Probably not on this trip. We rotate so that we'll serve different people every night", Louis explained with a shrug. Harry's face fell for a couple of seconds, but changed quickly and got replaced with a small smile.  
  
"We'll have to fix that then." He stated as if were something as easy as anything.  
"How're you going to fix that? You'll have to argue with Liam", Louis laughed as Harry opened the door for him.  
"I have my ways", Harry said mysteriously, something unknown to Louis sparkled in his eyes.  
"Alright, we'll see about that."

They went in to the elevator, Harry pushed at his button before Louis pushed at his. But as soon as the doors were closed Harry pushed Louis up against the mirrored wall, hands firm on Louis' cheeks, cupping them gently. Harry was inches away from his face, breath mingled together as Louis' own became more and more rapid. His thoughts went completely blank, the only thing rushing through his mind was, _Is he going to kiss me oh my god._ He probably said the 'oh my god'-part out loud, because Harry smirked quickly before their lips connected.

Louis closed his eyes, didn't have the time to breathe before his hands flung out to grip Harry's waist. With a steady grip, just so he wouldn't fall over or somewhat, Harry's tongue slid across his lower lip. If Louis actually did moan at that, he couldn't remember it, because suddenly it was all _HarryHarryHarry_ , their tongues met for the first time and it was all wet and sloppy. But good, above all those things it was really, really good. First kisses tend to turn out really awkward and uncomfortable due to the fact that they _are_ first kisses, but this one wasn't like that at all. Harry did all the exploring, tongue swept across every surface in Louis' mouth, hot and soft. Teeth were luckily not included in the kiss, but somehow they clacked together after some time.

But like every sweet thing, the kiss eventually had to come to an end. The elevator rang, telling the two boys that they had arrived on Harry's deck. Harry pulled back, thumbs caressed Louis cheekbones for merely a second.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow", Louis said perhaps a bit breathlessly as Harry stepped out and turned around to face Louis. "Wait your phone!" The doors were beginning to close as Louis dug for the phone in his pocket. Harry laughed and right before the doors closed in front of Louis, Harry said:  
"Keep it."

And that was that apparently.

Louis didn't quite understand why on earth Harry wanted him to keep it, but he shoved it back into his pocket and leaned against the wall as the elevator kept on going lower and lower. What had just happened? Subconsciously he licked his lips, remembered the taste of _Harry_.

Once behind the door to his cabin, which the way from the elevator to there was quite a blur, both Niall and Zayn's eyes were immediately turned to him, shining brighter than ever before.  
  
"C'mon, tell us!" Niall urged from his bed.  
"Yeah, c'mon, what did he say?"  
  
Louis asked them to wait a minute, let him change from these tight jeans and brush his teeth. Before he got the chance to do that though, he had to promise to tell them everything as soon as he was done.

And he told them most of the stuff. He told them how the phone got in his pocket, and why. He also told them a bit about Harry, and what he told Harry about them.  
  
"So did'ya hook up?" Niall asked curiously.  
"Niall! We were outside." Louis sighed from the top bunk.  
  
"And? 've done it outside once. Pretty er, _grassy._ "  
  
Both Zayn and Louis laughed hard at that, their stomach ached after a while.

"No Niall, we did not hook up. We didn't do anything really." The lie slipped out easily. They didn't have to know about the kiss.  
  
"Bo-ring" Niall said before turning his back to them, letting out a big yawn.  
  
"It was kinda cute though Lou", Zayn said, "him buying a phone just to have a reason to talk to you."  
"I don't know, Zayn. 'S just seems kinda, like he's trying to much?" Louis pondered. "And what does he get, me?"  
  
"Stop that Lou, you're great." Zayn scolded gently.  
"Sure 'm great but 'm not, _great_. You know what I mean?"  
  
"No. I don't. I don't think most people know what you mean." Zayn admitted. "What I meant to say was, that if he wants to talk to you it's because he likes you. I mean, he knew were you worked, right? So that can't be a surprise?"

Louis hated Zayn for being so, so, logical and reasonable.  
"I guess so", Louis sighed before he turned around to face the wall instead, "G'night Zayn. G'night Ni."  
"Night Lou. Don't overthink stuff, okay?" Zayn murmured, and Niall was most likely asleep already.

Still, Louis couldn't not overthink it. What was he in comparison to Harry? Nothing. Literally, nothing and no one. The phone, _Harry's_ phone, Louis had placed on the nightstand between the two bottom bunks buzzed, causing Louis to groan. He leaned over the tiny rail on the side of his bed as much as he could and finally reached the phone. It was a text. From Harry.

_'thanks for tonight, it was fun xx'_

Louis smiled, thumbs ghosting over the buttons, trying to figure out what to answer. _'Thanks, you kiss like a god'_. No. He couldn't write that.  
He didn't come up with anything, so he locked the phone and put it back on the nightstand.

  
He'd never, ever admit that he dreamt of some stupid love-scene from Titanic. Never.  


*~*

  
  
  
Morning came, just like yesterday, and Louis bounced out of the bed.

Except he didn't.

"Lou. Louis. Loubear. Boo bear. Boo. _Lewis_. Loulou."

Zayn caressed his cheek, the one not pressed into the pillow which probably has a lot of drool on it, while he whispered all the nicknames they had for Louis. The appropriate ones, however. Louis stirred in his sleep, flinched under Zayn's touch and Niall who stood impatiently by the side of the bed, decided that this is enough. No more 'gentle awakening á la Zayn', no this is a suiting job for Niall.

Louis jolts awake with a harsh slap on his cheek, the one not covered in drool, and blinked heavily several times before he meets the sight of a laughing Niall and a snickering Zayn.  
  
"The fuck you doing?" He asks, begging that he's coherent even though it's... He doesn't know what time it is. "What time issit?"  
  
"Ten. AM if you couldn't figure that out", Zayn snorted, "So get your enormous ass out of that bed and take a shower, maybe?"  
"You could use one, mate", Niall sniffed in the air near Louis, who swatted Niall's face away from him.  
"Shuddup." He grunted as he sat up, careful not to hit his head in the roof.  
  
"Shower, then we'll go out to a new deck, yeah?" Zayn proposed, smiled so sweetly Louis might get cavities.  
  
"Aight. Just a sec and I promise I'll get up." And with that Louis fell down onto the bed again, let his eyes flutter shut as he ignored the protests from both Niall and Zayn. Screw them.

So, Louis whole ' _dont-wanna-wake-up-you-cant-force-me-to-be-awake_ '-thing almost gets them late for lunch. Almost. After he'd been thoroughly scolded by the both of them, he eventually got out of bed and did take that shower. Just, when he was done however, he had barely five minutes to get his clothes on and a Niall in his ear screaming at him to get ready.

But they did it, a little bit out of breath perhaps, but they were on time.  
"Louis, can I speak with you for a second?"

Liam's voice caught him off guard, cut off the conversation he had going on with Niall and Zayn.  
"Yeah. Yeah sure." He got out, after he swallowed a couple of times. He couldn't make out if Liam was angry _or_ happy. His face was kinda deadpanned, not a frown nor a hint of a smile. So.

Liam dragged him away from the group, they were one step away from the door into an office a bit away from the rest. Louis looked nervously at Liam, waited for him to start talking.  
  
Liam cleared his throat.  
  
"So Louis." Louis nodded. "Do you remember the first table you served?"  
  
Louis almost snorts. Of course he does.  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
"Good. They - um, they want you to serve them again." Liam said easily.  
  
"They what?" Louis said before he could even think. His mind traveled back to yesterday, to his lovely conversation with a certain curly-haired bloke. _"I have my ways_ ", echoed through his skull as Liam kept on talking.  
  
"They want you, to serve them again. And again. Permanently."  
  
"I - Okay." Louis sounded unsure, much because he was.

"You must've made a great impression, to have them wanting you back to theirs." Liam sounded impressed though, strangely enough.  
"Yeah I guess so." Louis mumbled, not caring whether Liam heard it or not.  
"I just wanted you to know that, the other ones will switch tables like usual. Minus one table then, but. So just keep on doing what you did the first night, and everything will be alright."  
  
Liam was so sincere, not as hard or strict like he could appear to be when you first met him.

Louis nodded tightly, forced the corner of his lips upwards as the first swing of nervousity hit him hard in the stomach. Harry wanted him back at his table. Harry wanted _him_ back at his table. Oh god. What on earth was this guy's deal? Did he want to fuck Louis? I mean, that's probably why he was so nice to Louis, it made more sense than anything else, really.

Thing was, Harry was flirty. Like, Louis would like to think that Harry actually had something in his eye, but he didn't. He winked often, implied something _way too_ dirty for Louis to not blush at. Louis liked that though, he liked how everything wasn't so serious in a conversation. And Harry too could be serious occasionally, but the jokes and banters still remained. But then again, Harry was a flirt. It could mean nothing. And it probably didn't.

  
  
Lunch went slow. Nervousity mixed with anxiety made Louis distracted, unfocused. But when lunch was over, Niall and Zayn made him forget everything about Harry. They went out on a new deck, Niall ogling whatever girl was in eyesight. Even the ones who weren't. He did an actual fool out of himself so many times, tried so many cheesy pick-up lines that Louis thought he'd have a cramp in his stomach from laughing so much. And Louis hadn't seen Zayn laugh so genuine before, Zayn was always the one who thought everything was kinda dull and wanted to discuss things and blablabla. So Louis forgot about Harry. Not a single thought was dedicated to the dimply boy.

  
That was, until dinner. Time flies when you have fun, aye? So in no time at all, Louis had to get ready to work again. _Table three_. He remembered.

Throughout the starters, Harry was completely shameless with the staring. Louis thought he might die from Harry's intense gaze, piercing green distracting him worse than ever before, leaving him a distorted mess on the way back to the kitchen. Every time. But Louis kinda liked it, to see how desperate Harry looked when Louis was putting a plate in front of him. How Harry would lick his lips unconsciously whenever they would stare at each other for too long. He liked it.

Main course and desert went much like that. Louis thought the ginger one - Ed - knows about Harry's, _desire_ , after Louis, since Ed's watching both him and Harry with a smug smile on his lips every time and a sparkle in his eye.

When Louis left Harry's desert, who was the last one to get his, Harry whispered something in his ear that was only meant for Louis.  
  
"Answer me next time, please."

Louis didn't know what he meant. And because of the fact that his job's over when Harry's plate was served, he doesn't have the chance to whisper a ' _what the fuck do you mean?_ ' back to Harry either. He walked home with Niall and Zayn, hooked arm in arm with both of them for as long as they could manage through the narrow stairs.

Just when he was about to sleep, he figured it out. Harry's phone. Well, technically, no one's phone. Not even Louis'. The phone maybe. And he's right, too. There's an unread text from Harry. Louis opened it curiously, fingers worked fast over the buttons.

_'told you i had my ways, didn't i?'_

He smiled, he couldn't contain it. This boy's going through way much trouble for what? Louis? Making him their permanent waiter, huh.

 _'u certainly do',_ was what Louis texted back, smile still evident on his lips.  
  
 _'you answered this time, i'm glad'_ , he got back not more than a couple of seconds later. Louis took the phone with him up in his bunk, listened for Zayn's soft snores and Niall's short breaths just to confirm they in fact were asleep.  
  
 _'of course, you told me to'_  
  
 _'you always do what you get told?'_ Cheeky little fucker, Louis thought as he typed out a response.  
  
 _'it happens that i misbehave'_ And if Harry can play dirty, so can certainly Louis too.

_'good to know ;) but i'm knackered, see you tomorrow.'_  
  
 _'see you.'_

Now, Louis doesn't do winkey faces. No way. He tossed the phone back onto the nightstand, careful not to make any more noise than necessary. He fell asleep, dreamless this time.  


*~*  


Tomorrow they would arrive to New York. Tomorrow they had been on the boat for a week, with only one night in New York and a week back home left. With that in mind, Louis awoke a little bit easier than the previous morning, but mostly because of Niall making a lot of noises in their room.

" _Ni_ ", Louis called out hoarsely, eyes still shut.  
  
"Huh? Morning Lou, what's up?" Niall chirped back, popped his face up right in front of Louis who carefully opened his eyes.  
  
"Why are you making so much noise?" Louis asked while he lazily rubbed his eyes.  
"'M cleaning. Or, well, just a bit. Kinda messy here, innit?"  
  
With that Niall was gone, off to his previous actions and left Louis to fully wake up. Louis stretched out in his bed, stretched out his limbs as far as he could without hitting the wall above him or next to him. Zayn was still snoring in his bed he noticed as he climbed down, went on to drape himself over the sleeping Zayn.

"Zayn", he whispered at the other boys neck, where had put his face. He hugged his body as he kept on whispering things in the boys' ear. "Zayn. Zen. Zaynieboy. Wakey-wakey, loverboy."  
  
Zayn grunted, shifted underneath Louis' weight.  
  
"I _am_ awake you twat. Get off' me."  
"Nah-ah, not gonna happen. You have to work for it." Louis challenged as he hugged Zayn's body tighter.

  
*~*

"When I said you had to work for it I didn't mean for it to sound like an invitation to _punch_ me, Zayn!" Louis yelled.

They were walking down up the stairs to get to the lunch, Niall sighing as he listened to the two other boys arguing.  
  
"'M sorry Lou, but _you_ challenged me and I don't back down from a challenge", Zayn explained as he avoided to watch Louis face, scared that he'd crumble and apologize if he saw the little cut he had give Louis on his lips. By accident, of course.  
  
"But you punched me Zayn! _Me_ , Louis, your best friend! I would like to say that it didn't hurt but it _did_. Both physically _and_ in my heart." Louis cried as they walked through the doors into the large dinner-room, saw Liam talking to someone on the phone.  
  
"Oh c'mon, stop being so dramatic Louis. We both know you studied drama in UNI, so _I know_ you're faking it. Take it like a man and stop whining, 's not even that big."

Their argument was interrupted by Liam.  
  
"You!" He said while he pointed at Louis, who were the closest to him. They all three froze in their steps, went completely silent as they waited for Liam to continue. Liam was still on his phone, mumbled "I'll send someone up right now", before he hung up.  
  
"You", he repeated to Louis who gulped.  
"Me, yes", Louis squeaked out.  
"You will not work during lunch today", Liam began and before Louis even got the chance to breathe he continued. "You will go up to the pool, and work in the juice-bar there. Understood?"  
  
Louis nodded, before, "Yeah. Okay. May I ask why?"  
  
"Someone got sick, puked all night long and today and tomorrow's a massive cleaning day. So. They take people from here." Liam sighed. "So off you go, don't have all day to get up there. I promised I'd send someone right away."  
  
"I - Okay. But, what will I do? Like, mix juice or?" Louis said as he began to walk backwards, towards the door he just came from.  
"Something like that yeah. Don't worry, they'll explain it to you." Liam assured and with that he turned around to walk into the kitchen.  
  
"Good luck Boobear", Zayn shouted after Louis, Niall having a fit of laughter because of that.  
"Oh shut up Zayn!" Louis growled as the door shut close behind him.

Turned out, mixing juice and several other drinks (some was not appropriate to serve at this early hour but he was just doing his job), wasn't that hard actually. He knew most of them already from experience, and mixing them together wasn't much harder than drinking them. A girl named Perrie had showed him where everything was, the different juices and alcohol (Louis's still just doing his job) to where the glasses were. She was nice, her purple hair and blue eyes made her look absolutely stunning really. Maybe, if he wasn't gay though.

So the actual working itself wasn't hard at all, or, well. It kinda became harder, when Harry showed up.  
At first, Louis hadn't seen him. Harry had laid by the pool, on a sunbed. Tanning. In his shorts (!). How on earth could Louis have missed that? He was disapointed at himself. But however, when the tall boy had made his way to the bar to get himself a drink, his presence became very much noticed by Louis.

"Haven't seen you here before" Harry stated amusedly as he watched Louis mix his juice.  
  
"Nope." Louis answered, popped the P loudly. So this is were Harry had been every lunch. And this is why his skin's so tanned. Well.  
"So, why are you here now?"  
  
Louis glanced up from his juice-mixing, which he immediately regretted. Harry was leaning on the counter on one elbow, his whole torso exposed and _god_ he had tattoos. A lot of them, scattered across his left arm. Plus the two sparrows inked over his collarbones. Fuck.  
  
"Eh, I - I took someone's shift?" Louis stuttered out, hands desperately looking for a straw on the counter.  
  
"You askin' me?" Harry chuckled, and his dimples didn't make finding the straw any easier. Harry's hair was unrulier than Louis had ever seen before, the brown curls looking like a tangled mess. His green eyes were sadly enough covered by a pair of Ray-bans, but it was hot. Undeniably hot.  
  
"No I - I'm telling you." Louis said with a small smile as he handed over the drink to Harry.  
"I had fun last night. You were fun." Harry said softly. Louis felt his cheeks redden.  
"I had fun too."  
"Fun enough to do again?" Harry asked cheekily, probably noticed how Louis face turned hotter and hotter.  
"Tonight? Or, when?" Louis asked cautiously.  
  
"Can't tonight", Harry said and Louis tried to hide the disapointment in his face. "But tomorrow." The way Harry said it made it sound not like a question.  
"We're in New York tomorrow?" Louis frowned.  
"Exactly. You, me, your friends and Ed. Bar. New York. It'll be fun!"  
  
Louis fish-mouthed at Harry for a couple of seconds, tried to come up with a reason for that plan to be a bad one. He didn't find one. That was the only night he could get properly wasted on, really let himself go and it was their only night in New York.  
  
"I - Okay." Louis said, still pretty sure he'd regret it but. Harry raised one eyebrow, lips quirked up.  
"Okay?"  
"Yeah, why the fuck not?" Louis shrugged.  
  
"Exactly! Alright. Well, thanks. See you tomorrow! I'll text you!" Harry smirked, took the drink in his hand and raised it as if to toast to Louis, who smiled back. He tried hard not to ogle Harry's muscular backside as Harry made his way back to his sunbed, and he certainly did not notice how Harry's hips swayed.

Throughout the entire day, throughout dinner, he wondered of he really should've agreed to that.

  
He told Niall and Zayn that evening. Figured that if they were supposed to tag along, they probably should know where they were headed too.

"So you want us to go out and drink?" Niall asked.  
"Yes."  
"With you?" Zayn looked thoughtful.  
"Yes, and Harry. And Ed."  
"Is Harry that rich guy you shagged couple days ago?" Niall prodded.  
  
"Niall!" Louis slapped his arm. "We did not shag, but yes. That's him."  
"And who's Ed?" Zayn asked, ignored Niall completely.  
  
"His friend. Ginger, don't know if you've seen him." Louis explained. The three of them got silent for a couple of second, Niall winced while he stroke the place he'd been hit.  
  
"Why?" Zayn finally asked.  
"Why what?" Louis scowled.  
"Why are we going out with them?"  
"It's our only day in NYC, c'mon, it'll be fun. Even if you don't like them, you can come drink and do whatever you want." Louis might cross the line to begging, but he didn't care.  
"You know we have to work the day after, right?" Niall said and Louis sighed.  
  
"Yes I do Ni, but it'll be worth it." Louis shone up in a bright smile while chanting, "NYC! NYC!", over and over again.

Niall and Zayn sighed, but they agreed, earning a tight hug from Louis.  
"We're only doing this so you _finally_ can shag that bloke, okay?" Zayn cleared up as the three of them hugged. Louis let go of them, voice going high-pitched as he protested wildly.  
  
"I _don't_ wanna sleep with him! _God_ , what do you even think of me?"

  
  
*~*  


New York looked absolutely stunning. Louis almost couldn't contain himself as they were walking off the boat, about to get on solid ground for the first time in seven whole days. Seemed kinda weird, stating that he'd missed it, but he somehow did. The entire staff (except the one's that would be cleaning the boat) had been given the entire day off, considering that every passenger was off the boat too. No lunch, no dinner, no nothing. Just Louis, Zayn and Niall in the enormous city of New York. They did have to work tomorrow though, both lunch and dinner, but that was later worries.

Louis and Harry had been texting last night, Louis wrote that Niall and Zayn was so excited for going out for drinks with Harry and Ed, which made Harry really happy. Maybe he exaggerated a bit about Niall and Zayn, but with drinks in their systems, they would happy and satisfied whoever they were with. They had decided to meet up at a bar he'd forgotten the name of at 8, to begin their night in what Louis thought at least, was the center of the universe.

The city certainly lived up to that name, Louis concluded after the trio had walked around in it for a couple of hours. The streets were absolutely crowded with people, and the stores were even more. Everything Louis had seen in movies, were actually there, and Louis had to stop to catch his breath sometimes.

The air was new, not fresher than on the top deck of the boat, but newer and way more interesting. Different scents filled his nose, hot-dogs stands smelled, people's perfume smelled as they hurried past the three boys, everything smelled. The buildings were so tall, Louis thought that they might actually touch the sky.

They had lunch at some random place in the corner of a side-street, sat outside the restaurant to watch the people who passed by them. They laughed at a few, discussed how different everyone looked and tried to figure out where they were going.  
  
"That one's definitely a business-women", Niall had said about a middle-aged lady who walked past them in heels who echoed through the street.  
  
"Okay, might be, but why?" Zayn questioned as he nibbled on a chip.  
  
"She has that classic pencil-skirt y'know, and a blazer. They always have a blazer." Niall explained with a shrug.

The day went on like that, the three of them walked around, just taking the city in with all of their senses. They'd walked in to a really expensive shop, tried on some clothes as the cashier glared at them. She probably knew they weren't actually going to buy something, and she sure as hell wasn't happy about it, but it was all for the shits and giggles so she let them be.  


When the time began to approach eight, Harry texted Louis.  
  
 _'you still coming? we're already here xx'_  
  
Louis fought off the silly butterflies he'd like to deny in his stomach as he typed out an answer.  
  
 _'yeah we're coming. what was the name of the bar again? x'_  
  
Yes, he did x's too, sue him.  


The bar was a couple of blocks away, Louis made the decision to haul in a taxi for them to take. With the three of them seated, he told the taxi-driver the name of the club and in a second they were off.

New York were so much different at night, the nickname _'the city who never sleeps_ ' really suited it. You'd think it was bright during the day, but that was nothing compared to what it was during the night. Whatever sign who was shining and blinking during the day, shone ten times brighter and stronger after the darkness had spread all over the city. People disappeared into the shadows, only the flock of people who was queuing to get inside a club was actually seen in the light. The streets with any kind of street lights at all were completely black, nothing being seen.

The taxi-driver stopped outside a bar, Louis handed him some bills before thanking him and stepped out. The first thing that he noticed, was that this wasn't your usual bar, no, this was a kareoke-bar. Immediately he fished out his - the -phone from his pocket and shot off a text to Harry.  
  
 _'a kareoke bar, really? we're outside, be inside in a sec'_

He never checked for a reply, because soon enough the three were inside the bar. It was quite big, but not especially crowded. Against the wall furthest away there was a scene, but before they had the time to walk up to the bar something tall and lanky was in front of him.

"Louis! Hi!"

Harry was wearing a tight, white t-shirt with a exceptionally low v-cut, showing off those sparrows Louis had been eyeing yesterday. He had skinny, black jeans on, and it made Louis wonder if he might be incompetent to have kids cause those jeans surely hugged around his crotch in an alarming way. But he looked good, amazing even, which made Louis feel quite self-conscious about his own baseball-tee with black sleeves. Though his own jeans might be as equally tight as Harry's, so maybe it was okay anyhow.

"Hi Harry", he responded, matched Harry's wide smile. Harry's gaze flickered towards Niall and Zayn, and Louis quickly introduced them. "Harry, this is Zayn", Zayn gave him a short nod and a small smile, "and this is Niall." Niall smiled wide and shook Harry's hand.  
  
"Great to meet you. I'd like to introduce you all to Ed, but he's about to sing, so I'll do that later, okay?" Harry scratched the back of his neck, like he was ashamed he couldn't introduce the best friend of his own.

"He's gonna sing?" Louis exclaimed and watched Harry nod eagerly in response. "That's so cool."  
"Yeah, he's really good. C'mon, get yourselves a drink and we'll find somewhere to sit, alright?"

Harry led them too the bar, and they all ordered a drink before he dragged them along towards an empty booth near the small stage. Harry's hand found Louis', and intertwined their fingers as they snaked through the dancing bodies on the dance floor, and Louis was so glad the light was low enough for the blush on his face to not be shown. Zayn and Niall followed right after him, probably not noticing his and Harry's fingers.

The booth was small, and with Niall and Zayn already in it there were only one seat left. Ed had walked up on the stage, began talking into the mic as he chose the song. Louis squirmed uncomfortably where he and Harry stood next to the booth, glanced around to see if there was an empty chair somewhere.

"Fuck it", he heard Harry growl before Harry sat down in the booth next to Niall, and took a firm grip around Louis waist and placed him in his lap.  
"Harry", Louis gasped at the sudden roughness, the dim lights couldn't help to hide his horrible blush now though.  
  
"'S alright Lou. Just, didn't want to stand throughout the performance, hope it's not too uncomfortable though." Harry whispered hotly against his ear. Louis had his back pressed against his chest, threw a quick glance towards Niall and Zayn but they didn't pay much attention to them anymore. Ed had begun to sing, a slow tune rung out through the club as people began to dance languidly to it.  
  
"'S not uncomfortable, 've got a lot of padding if you haven't noticed." Louis whispered back, equally hot against Harry's ear. It sure wasn't the alcohol speaking, yet, since he'd only have one sip of it so far. But he didn't miss Harry's sharp intake of breath, how one of his hands grasped Louis' hip tightly, nor did he miss how he squirmed ever so slightly underneath him.  
  
"Oh 've noticed that", he whispered back, voice raspy in Louis ear and it may or may not cause some shivers to erupt down the length of his spine. He rubbed his bum a little bit more in Harry's lap, for good measure, before giving his ears to Ed who still sang the slow tune.

Ed sang beautifully, voice clear and soft who matched the choice of song perfectly. Harry hummed along behind him, tapped his index finger on the hand who was placed on Louis' hip to the beat. Louis leaned back towards Harry's chest, relaxed in his seat more than he probably should. But Harry didn't protest, continued to hum along until the very end of the song.

Scattered claps and cheers were heard through the club, Ed thanked the audience before he stepped down and quickly got replaced by a song from the DJ since no one else grabbed the microphone. Ed made his way towards the booth, smile wide as he accepted a few compliments from people on his way. Harry awoke under Louis, sat more upright but still with a possessive hand on Louis' hip.

"Ed! You were absolutely great!" Harry greeted him happily.  
"Thanks, mate." Ed smiled and scanned his eyes over the rest of the booth, but mostly at Louis' placed in Harry's lap.  
  
"Eh, Ed this is Louis." Harry motioned towards the small boy in his lap, who smiled awkwardly and complimented him. "That's his friends, Zayn and Niall."  
"Mate, you were absolutely fantastic!" Niall said cheerfully, Zayn agreeing completely.  
  
"Yeah, well. Watch me be better." Harry pulled Louis off his lap, then forcefully pushed him back so that he sat where Harry had been sitting, before he made his way towards the scene without another word. Ed turned around, yelled a 'good luck' after him before he leaned against the side of the booth.  
  
"Is he any good?" Louis asked nervously, and watched Ed nod.  
  
"He's great. Perhaps even better than me. But I'll let you be the judge of that", he said with a wink. Harry talked to the DJ, probably telling him that he would like to sing.  
  
"So your boy can sing too? Quite a catch there, Louis", Zayn laughed. Louis crimsoned, shushed him so that Ed wouldn't hear him even though he was sure it was too late, considering that Ed was laughing along with Niall and Zayn.  
  
"He's not _my_ boy", Louis huffed as Harry grasped the microphone and the bar went quiet.  
  
Ed merely raised one eyebrow before his attention swiftly changed towards Harry, whose voice rung through the microphone now.

"Hi, 'm Harry Styles, and 'm gonna sing for you now. Hope you enjoy."

A familiar tune started playing, Louis face lit up in recognition. The intro didn't last long, and then Harry's voice overtook Louis whole mind.

_You touch these tired eyes of mine_  
 _And map my face out line by line_  
 _And somehow growing old feels fine_

His voice were much different than Ed's, even though they were both obviously great. Harry's voice weren't as soft, much more raspier compared to Ed's soft one. It fitted this song absolutely perfect, and Louis had trouble breathing when Harry extended some of the notes differently than it was supposed to be. Harry closed his eyes, brows were furrowed and he really went in for it. Louis would never have guessed in this life time that he could sing, especially not as good as this. He liked it, it added onto the list why Harry was absolutely great, which Louis really didn't need.

He found himself mouthing along to the song, heart swelling with affection when Harry sung the last note and thanked the audience for listening. He received equally much appreciation from them as Ed had, accepted a few compliments on his way back to the booth. Louis stood up from his seat, motioned for Harry to sit down. Harry complied as Zayn and Niall showered him in praises and flattered him. Harry shrugged it off, but not without thanking them.

Louis sat down carefully in his lap, not entirely sure of it was okay, but when Harry's hand steadied itself on Louis' waist once again, he relaxed in Harry's lap.  
"You were great", Louis said even though everybody else had said both that and more.  
  
"Thanks, love." The petname made Louis cheeks heat up, he cursed himself for blushing so awfully much around Harry.  
  
"I love The Script, you made the song justice." Harry grinned at him, Louis' head buzzed pleasantly as the drink were all gone and without thinking about it, Louis poked his finger in one of Harry's dimples.  
  
"I love them too. Saw them in Manchester a couple years ago, in fact."  
  
Louis froze, felt how his jaw dropped.  
  
"In February? 2009?" He asked, eyes blown wide. Harry nodded.  
"Yeah, why?"  
"I was there too!"

Silence. Harry's eyes sparkled, his mouth shaped into a perfect circle.  
  
"That's wicked. Totally wicked." Harry laughed and Louis agreed wholeheartedly.  
  
"That's - Wow. What if we saw each other?" Louis wondered.  
  
"I would never, _ever_ forget someone who looked like you. Much less let them walk away." Harry assured with a wry grin.

Louis must've leaned closer during the conversation, cause now they were inches away from each other, Louis faced Harry with his whole upper body with his hands tangled around Harry's neck. And in another world Louis may have found the decency to not slot their lips together, to actually interact in a friendly chat with Zayn, Niall and Ed, but he wasn't in another world. He was right there, with Harry _right there_ , and his own mouth _right there_. And he'd like to blame it on the alcohol. He'd like to say that it wasn't him that made the actual decision to surge forward, to pull Harry closer by the grip around his neck, but he couldn't. With only one drink in his system, he was still relatively sharp, still had his head in the game even though the edges were slightly blurry.

So, Louis totally went for it, not wasting a single second. Their second kiss reminded much of the first one, same heat and same passion only during different circumstances. The faint talking Zayn or Niall made faded away quickly when Harry's grip on his waist tightened, when his hands started playing with the fine hairs at the base of Harry's neck. When their tongues slid around each other again, seeming much more familiar now, almost like they were used to each other, Louis felt his eyes roll back in his head.

Underneath his bum he felt Harry harden, so he shifted cruelly in his lap just to annoy him. Which only earned him a few bites on his lip and something similar to a groan who could not get past their slotted lips. Wet, slick sounds were drowned by the noise of another Kareoke-star, and soon the urge to breathe came bubbling up. Harry pulled away first, not bothered by the thin string of saliva that was hanging between their two mouths as an aftermath to the sloppy kiss.

Louis whined embarrassingly, wanted to continue with the hot kissing, wanted to ravish Harry and tug at his curls. But Harry wouldn't let him, only leaned forward to whisper in his ear.  
"The things I'd like to do to you can't be done in public, love. Do you wanna go to mine, finish it there perhaps?" And Louis might've been able to say no, like, he should've, but then Harry nibbled at his earlobe, tongue grazed the sensitive skin and Louis crumbled underneath it.  
  
"Yeah", he answered breathlessly, not entirely sure what he answered to but he wanted it. Wanted it all.

Harry pushed him off his lap, forced him to stand up with a more than painful erection straining in his jeans. Louis regretted immediately that he'd wore so tight jeans, sure they made his arse look fantastic but _gosh_ his cock was getting suffocated in there. Harry said something in Ed's ear, who smiled and nodded in response. Louis felt like he needed to tell Zayn and Niall he wouldn't be going home with them tonight, unfortunately.

"Babes, 'm gonna go with Harry now, okay?" Louis said to both of them, who looked skeptical.  
"Alright Lou, but remember, we have to work tomorrow. Twelve'o'clock", Zayn reminded him but Louis couldn't care less. He had a stunning boy waiting for him, and he'd much rather be naked in a bed then anywhere else right now.  
  
"I know, I'll be there. Stop worrying, _Daddy_." Louis couldn't resist, rolled his eyes with a small sigh.  
"Euw Louis. None of that dirty talk with me. Now, go or he'll leave without you!" Zayn scolded before he took a sip of his drink. With a graceful wave, Louis was off, hand in hand with Harry.

"I've got a room in a hotel not far from here", Harry explained as he raised his hand in a gesture towards an incoming taxi. The chill air made Louis skin erupt in goosebumps, even though it was the middle of August. Maybe the New York air really was that different. He remembered Harry's words though, figured he ought to answer him with something at least.  
  
"That's great." He murmured as he was dragged in to the warm taxi by his hand. Suddenly he also remembered that Harry was here with his family, and that maybe he and his sister shared a room. Now that would be awkward.  
"You're not - not sharing with your sister, are you?"

The lights illuminated Harry's face in the most loveliest way, leaving the area around his eyes darker so that they shone on their own. Instead, they highlighted his mouth, highlighted his red lips as they broke out in a soft laugh, theeth almost blinded Louis as bright as they shone. He looked absolutely beautiful. Louis did not deserve this. Not someone like Harry.

"You think I would invite you back if I knew my sister were going to be there? Wouldn't that be rather awkward, Louis?" His name rolled off Harry's tongue in a way that made Louis shiver in anticipation, his breath hitched when Harry's lips quirked upwards in a crooked smirk.  
"Yeah I - I guess." Louis muttered bashfully. "Sorry." He added even quieter.  
"No need to be sorry, love. Gemma's probably out partying like we were." Harry shrugged one shoulder, "Besides, I have a whole room for myself. So don't you worry your pretty little head, alright?"

The taxi came to a halt. Before Louis could even make a dash for his wallet, Harry laid some bills in the taxi-drivers hand, thanked him politely before he urged Louis out of the taxi. Alright. The hotel knocked the breath out of Louis, made him felt like he was completely out of place. He nearly felt ashamed when Harry joined their hands as they walked through the door, entered a lobby fancier that anything Louis had ever witnessed.

The entire room went in the colours white and gold, huge pillars that reached all the way up to the roof, tables and the entire reception entirely in white marble. It looked amazing, Louis fought against letting his mouth fall wide open in admiration. A few people sat in what looked like comfortable couches in the corner, laptops in their knees and dressed in suits and ties. He felt rather uncomfortable, walking in in such a posh hotel looking like he did. But Harry's hand still clung on tightly to his, made him feel somewhat more relaxed when they walked up to the elevators.

The memory of the last time they were in an elevator struck him like lightning, made his stomach stir in _want_ and _lust_ , relished as the vivid taste of Harry came back to him. And as soon as the doors closed safely behind the two boys, everything felt like Deja Vú. Except for a slightly more fancier elevator, but besides that, the rest felt very familiar.

With his head slightly clouded by the one drink he'd actually been drinking (he had always been a lightweight), and Harry encircled his arms around Louis' neck, Louis could not bear to think straight. Not at all.

"You're so fucking gorgeous", Harry murmured, breath fanned Louis' mouth. The compliment made him feel hot all over, absolutely sure that his cheeks turned annoyingly red. But Harry didn't seem to mind, and if he did he didn't say anything. He only glanced once, quickly, down at Louis before his lips met the shorter boy's.

Firstly, Louis noticed how Harry's eyes no longer were the forest-green he was used to see. No, they were almost black, looking like a black hole waiting to devour Louis whole body, his entire existence until there was nothing left. And in the state of mind Louis were in right now, he would gladly let him, without a second of hesitation.

Secondly, while Louis' own hands was cupping Harry's neck, gently playing with the small locks of hair, he felt how Harry's hands who originally were placed firmly on his hips, started to carefully slide down back over the curve of his bum. Harry shamelessly groped him when his hands finally slid down completely, palms embraced his entire bum and gently squeezed them. An embarrassing moan found its way through Louis' throat, slipped past their lips as Harry pulled back to breathe.

"I've wanted to do that for _so_ long", he breathed against Louis lips and if Louis would've been given the chance to answer with a witty comeback, believe me he would. But the doors to the elevator pushed open, a light 'ding' interrupted the intense atmosphere.  
"Let's continue that in your room, hm?" Louis felt extremely breathless, very proud how coherent that sentence actually turned out.

Wordlessly, Harry pulled Louis along with him through the empty corridor at the same time as he hauled up his room-key from his pocket.  
"203, 203", he kept on mumbling as he impatiently searched for the right door.

Louis barely grasped what happened when Harry finally got the door open, how pushed Louis up against the wooden door in order to close it. And it would've hurt, if Harry wasn't there to soothe his mind with wet, sloppy kisses. The lust had almost been mixed up with something recognizable as pure desperation, Harry's pining for that gorgeous ass of Louis' made his cock strain painfully in his boxers already, just from some pretty heated kissing.

Louis wasn't much better though, all this gentleman-acting from Harry's side made something bubbly and _new_ erupt in his stomach all over again whenever Harry spared him a sneaky glance or when he said Louis' name. It was rather ridiculous really, how something so small and insignificant could spur on those kinds of feelings and emotions, and it all left Louis breathless in the end.

The kissing against the door surely took away his breath too, leaving him sipping for air whenever Harry would allow him to. However, he felt like this kind of action should somehow take place on a much comfortable place, perhaps a bed. So with the small amount of coherence he had left in his head, mind otherwise fairly busy with things like focusing how his tongue should function inside Harry's velvety mouth, he kept his hands on Harry's cheeks as he began to push him backwards towards the bed.

If he'd gotten the time to fully explore the hotel room, he'd been left in the same state he'd been when he'd seen the lobby. The entire room was dark now though, weak light from the vast window facing the streets below them only shone bright enough for Louis to manage to find the king-sized bed.

Somewhere along their walk, Harry had turned the two of them around slowly, which left Louis to be the one being pushed down on the soft, duvet-covered mattress. A small whimper slipped past his lips when Harry began to tentatively trail kisses along his jawline.

Louis' hands went to Harry's back, gripped the material tightly as if to silently beg him to take the whole thing off. From what Louis remembered from the day he worked at the pool, how fit Harry had looked and how badly he wanted to suck a lovebite onto his skin, he couldn't be more satisfied when Harry got up on his knees and hurriedly pulled his shirt off.

" _God_ you're so fit."

Louis couldn't stop himself, now that he felt that he actually was allowed to say things like that. And Harry's smirk told him that the compliment hadn't gone unnoticed.  
Harry rucked up Louis' shirt, left a stripe of golden skin to show, which Harry found incredibly tantalizing. Louis' skin always seemed to have the golden shade, almost as if he couldn't turn paler than that. Harry liked it.  
  
He leaned down, placed his mouth near Louis' belly button and sucked on the spot, teeth grazed the skin carefully. Louis squirmed the best he could underneath him, though Harry's hands held him in place by his hips.  
  
" _Ha_ rry," Louis whined impatiently. Harry pulled back, admired how the skin had turned to a mixture of purple and golden.  
  
"Get your shirt off, love." Harry ordered as he got back up to his knees. Louis struggled to get it off, tiny whines filled the room until it eventually hit the floor.

Thing was, Louis wanted to bottom, he did and _he would_ , but he didn't want to actually be at the bottom. He wanted to ride Harry, to decide the pace himself, to have Harry fill him up and just lie there and take whatever Louis would offer him. So with that in mind, Louis sat up quickly on the bed, ignored how his cock strained against the zipper of his jeans. Harry looked confused for a couple of seconds, a cute little frown forming on his forehead. And maybe another time, Louis would've stopped and kissed it away, telling him how cute he looked when he did so, but that would require a little less of an erection in his pants.  
  
"'M gonna ride you", Louis explained as he pushed Harry down at the bed again, Harry letting out a soft grunt when his back hit the mattress. Louis couldn't tell whether it was because of what Louis had said or if it was because of how hard he had pushed him down, but he couldn't bring himself to even ask. He settled between Harry's legs, and with dainty hands he popped the button open to Harry's jeans. Even the smallest of touch made Harry grunt, nose scrunching and teeth were blotted.  
  
With the zipper down, and pants shoved down to mid-thigh, Harry was whining and whispering incoherent words who Louis fairly ignored. He was way too busy, with his face against Harry's crotch, mouthed along the hard shaft who was still cruelly tucked away inside the black briefs.  
  
"Louis, Lou - C'mon, _c'mon_ , please," Harry begged, bucked his hips up without any second thought.  
  
"Patience love," Louis scolded. With a little (okay a lot) of work, Harry's jeans and briefs were off and away, landed with a thud on the floor. Louis promised himself not to ever wear skinny jeans again, and wanted to make Harry promise the same thing. Harry sighed in relief when there no longer were any fabric restricting his cock, but still nothing was given to relieve the throbbing and aching he still felt.  
  
"Look at you baby," Louis cooed, and from in between Harry's thighs he leaned forward to be able to whisper in Harry's ear. "Now, as much as I would _love_ to just start to ride that big cock of yours, I still need some prep for that. So love, where d'you keep the lube? You gonna prep me real good, hm?"  
  
With teeth nibbling at Harry's earlobe, Louis was rather impressed when Harry managed to speak out a pretty coherent sentence.  
  
"'s - it's there, on the nightstand."  
  
Louis looked to his side, and sure enough. On the nightstand, a half-empty bottle of lube was standing and just _waited_ for Louis to use it.  
"Oh, were you expecting me to follow you up here, hm?" Louis asked teasingly while he snatched the blue bottle of the nightstand. Harry wasn't late on shaking his head though.  
  
"No, no. I - Um, I thought I would have to, to finger m'self again." Harry said shakily, shuddering breaths leaving his mouth. Louis went up to straddle his chest, making it an easier reach for Harry.  
  
"Again? You saying you've done that before then, love?" With Louis so close to his face, staring him in the eyes, Harry couldn't fight off the horrible blush that slowly painted his cheeks awfully red.  
"Everyday - it was unopened before the first night when I saw you." He confessed quietly.  
  
It took some time for Louis to figure it out, and when he did... Oh. _Oh_.  
  
"You've been thinking about me?" And his voice were no longer teasing, no matter how much he loved to tease. He was genuinely surprised, that Harry had been fingering himself to the thought of Louis. And everyday too! Since Louis had kinda frozen there above Harry, he coated his own fingers in lube before he traced them around Louis' crack, then circling around his rim.

"Of course Louis, I - Have you _seen_ your arse? That's barely a man's bum 'm telling you." Harry enjoyed how much Louis beamed from that, how the golden skin instantly turned into a field of goosebumps, and how Louis' breath hitched when Harry's index finger gingerly slipped past the tight ring of muscle.

"Fuck," Louis hissed and his eyelids felt so heavy out of _pleasure_ that he had a hard time keeping them open.  
"Yeah that's what 've wanted to do. Everyday since that first fucking night, Lou." Harry said, thrusted the finger a little bit faster by the end of the sentence. "God, you're so gorgeous, can't believe you're here."  
  
If he hadn't had a finger up his arse, Louis would've laughed. How could Harry, _Harry_ , the most stunning bloke he'd ever seen who was practically wiping his arse with dollar bills, even assert something like that?  
"You're unbelievable," Louis said under his breath, and before Harry could argue, "'nother please."  
  
Harry happily obeyed, the second finger slid in smoothly along with the first. The stretch was bearable, it was there but certainly not disturbing. His cock laid hard and leaking against his stomach, and all Louis wanted was to get Harry's cock so deep inside of him that he'd definitely see stars and land on the clouds of Heaven, so, he muttered out "one more c'mon" to Harry and soon three fingers were fucking him. He met every thrust, whimpers he couldn't control slipped constantly passed his parted lips.  
  
"'M ready, c'mon, c'mon," Louis urged and dared a glance down at Harry below him. The boy's curls were damp, plastered to his forhead _just from fingering me_ , Louis thought and he somehow felt thrilled and excited to see Harry's o-face. And Harry's eyes shone brighter than anything, than the stars and the sun combined and Louis couldn't help but to feel something different than just plain _horniness_ slowly spread on the inside of his stomach.  
  
Harry had somehow rolled on a condom onto his cock and next thing Louis felt was the tip of it pushing against his entrance, painfully slow did the velvety inside of him swallow inch after inch hungrily. He must admit that he'd gotten pretty riled up.  
  
Harry's hands rested on the flesh of his hip, thumbs dug into the soft skin subconsciously as he bottomed out, eyes rolled backwards inside his head from the sheer tightness of _Louis_. Imagine that he'd been four fingers deep inside _himself_ , and now, here Louis was _on top of him_ with his hands splayed out wide on Harry's chest. Unbelievable, was the only word fleeting through his mind when Louis raised his arse up, leaving only the very tip of his cock inside, before he slammed back down.  
  
"Oh fuck," Louis whined, repeated the motion a couple of times just to get the feel of it. And god, did he feel it. "You're so, _fuck_ \- fucking big. Gonna split me open."  
  
And if Harry hadn't moaned at that, Louis wouldn't have bothered with it. But, Harry did, and something in the back of Louis' head made him keep on talking. That, of course, while he rolled his hips in as wide circles as he could with Harry's cock deep inside of him.  
  
"Yeah? You'd like that wouldn't you? Make your parents hear me scream your name? Let them know who makes you feel like this? _Hm?_ "  
  
Louis leaned down, elbows on each side of Harry's head and his mouth attached to the junction of his neck and shoulder. This new position made Harry naturally grab his arse instead of his hips, kneaded the plump flesh thoroughly.  
  
"You like m'bum, don't you? Wanna smack it?" Louis questioned, mumbled the words into the damp skin. Harry hummed in approval, incapable of forming anything different than that. "C'mon then, make my bum all sore. I know you want it."  
  
With Louis tumbling inside his head, the acceptance of actually being able to smack that firm piece of ass he'd been eyeing whenever he'd gotten the chance to, he raised his hand and brought it down equally as quick, and he just wished he'd gotten to see the flesh jiggle like he wanted to. But, you can't have everything right? The little yelp, followed by the quietest of moans from Louis told him that he did in fact enjoy it. That was the only encouragement Harry needed, and soon enough he'd delivered three more smacks onto different cheeks each time.  
  
"Oh fuck, so good Harry, so fucking good," Louis whimpered, head still stuck besides Harry's neck. Louis lips mouthed at the hot skin, relished the faint taste of sweat, salt and Harry and before he knew it, they were sucking right above Harry's collarbone, where Louis was sure he had a tattoo. He felt how Harry's blood pulsed underneath his lips, how hot the skin was, and he think he might've even _heard_ how the tiny vessels burst and tinted the pale, fair skin purple and red.  
  
"Can I - I wanna, _fuck_ , wanna fuck you harder, please." Harry begged silently, voice broke in the middle to moan out loudly. Up to this point, the fucking had been controlled by Louis, he was the one deciding both the pace and pressure. But he was tired and his cock laid heavy between their stomachs and all he wanted was to cum and go to sleep, so he weakly agreed to let Harry do whatever he want.  
  
A part of him expected for Harry to turn them over, and pound into him that way. But Harry simply planted his feet firmly on the mattress, held a steady grip on Louis' arse and thrusted with all his power and energy he had left to pound up into Louis, who laid with his hands tousled in Harry's curls, hot breath hit Harry's neck.  
  
"Fuck, fuck, 'm gonna - gonna cum, Harr -" His voice died out in a high pitched scream, the kind he'd most certainly be embarrassed about if it wasn't because of that Harry had just hit his prostate dead-on. The overwhelmness swept him away, made the pleasure spread all the way from spine up and over his entire back, stomach and even out to the very tip of his fingers. They curled into Harry's scalp, tugged shamelessly on the younger boys' locks without mercy.  
  
Then, the pleasure disappeared abruptly. A long, out-drawn whine from somewhere deep down his throat echoed in the room when Harry pulled his cock out, very much to Louis dismay.  
  
"What the fuck are you doing? Get back inside 'f me, you bloody -"  
  
Before he could finish, he was flipped over so that his head laid comfortably on a pillow, Harry towered above him. He waited for Harry to explain himself, because weak and limp as he was, he couldn't protest if Harry actually did want to toss him around right now. But the orgasm felt so close, and he was so desperate for it.  
  
"Want you to cum all over your stomach babe, want to lick it all up and I couldn't do that if you cummed all over me instead," Harry said sweetly, with one hand at the base of his cock he pushed it back inside the (still) tight hole, listened out for any sign of protests.  
  
Which, of course didn't come. But Louis was about to, cum that is, because in this position, Harry steered the angle much better than he'd done previously, and _lord almighty_ , Louis orgasm struck him almost immediately.  
  
His thighs trembled and quivered, spurts of cum painted his stomach with white streaks. He couldn't remember the last time an orgasm had hit him _so hard_ , the last time it had felt so good and so desperate for it. He couldn't. But he knew he never wanted it to end, how amazing it felt as Harry chased after his own orgasm. Harry relentlessly fucked him, kept his thrusts hard and forceful without much account to the fact that Louis had just cummed.  
  
And Louis loved it, the oversensitiveness. Harry connected their mouths, slotted their lips together in a kiss that most certainly topped the one in the elevator(s). Hungry tongues worked against each other, and even though Louis was tired and limp, he felt the want, the need to kiss Harry just like that. Like they actually were, a thing. It felt so right to kiss him with passion and affection, it felt so familiar and comfortable somehow.  
  
When the condom filled up inside of him, the warmth gave it away and maybe the sweet whimper Harry let out in their mouths, Louis felt a sense of blissfulness overflow him. Harry's thrusts stilled, but he was still inside of him.  
  
Their harsch breathing mingled together, the slight lack of oxygen made them both feel a little bit giddy. Harry though, seemed to regain his senses much quicker than Louis, and got up on his knees to be able to see the whole of Louis. Louis winced when Harry pulled out, the empty feeling wasn't much fun.  
  
"Oh my god." Was all Harry said, eyes roamed Louis' whole body. Harry kneeled down again, though this time his mouth was at the same level like Louis' stomach, who was all covered in his own cum. "Oh my god." Harry repeated quietly before he stuck his tongue out and carefully licked off the first streak of cum off of Louis' stomach. His eyes never left Louis'. Louis wondered how his eyes still shone, after all the pure horniness had been taken care of, and it struck him that maybe, maybe Harry's eyes always sparkled like that. Like when you were a kid on Christmas, and you've just opened your first present. Or when you got your first kiss. Our when you kissed your first love. Maybe they just always sparkled like that.  
  
"You're so fucking hot."  
  
Harry pulled him back to the presence, he'd gotten lost inside his head for a couple of seconds. The sight of Harry, licking his stomach all clean, made him groan involuntarily.  
  
"You wanna taste, Lou?" Harry asked and crawled closer to Louis' face, noses bumped into each other. No answer was needed, Louis only had to tilt his head a bit before their lips met once again.  
  
He did taste the bitterness of his own cum, but he couldn't bring himself to care even the slightest. Louis sighed into the kiss, who only lasted shortly before Harry pulled back and got out of bed.  
  
"Where're you going?" Louis asked hesitantly.  
  
"Chill babe, just gonna throw the condom and I'll be right back." Harry laughed, ducked into the bathroom for just a couple of seconds. When he got back, he crawled up so that his front was pressed to Louis back, rested his chin atop of Louis' head. Louis felt himself relax when Harry's arm came to drape across his midriff, let out a deep breath he'd been holding since Harry pressed his chest against his back.

He soon began to drift further away into sleep, and the last thing he registered before he was fast asleep, was Harry whispering 'good night' into his hair.

 

*~*  
  


Waking up wasn't the hardest part of that morning.

Due to the fact that he'd only drunk one drink last night, he at least didn't have an enourmous hungover that would certainly slow his entire day. No, he felt... rested when he woke up.  
  
They hadn't closed any of the curtains last night, they were rather busy with, eh, other things, so the sunlight from outside made Louis shot his eyes open. He wasn't used with sunshine during the mornings, their cabin didn't have a window. However, it was quite pleasantly to wake up to sun rays in your face, and a... a warm body behind you. _Shit_.  
  
Louis still had his back pressed against Harry's chest, even though the arm Harry'd have slung around him wasn't there anymore. Guilt hit him harder than anything he'd ever felt before, harder than any punch he'd been given or any fall he'd been doing. _Guilt, guilt, guilt_ ate him up from the inside, made him feel sick as he carefully slipped out of the bed. He froze immediately as soon as he'd gotten up on two legs, listened for Harry's breath to continue as even as it did before.  
  
They did.  
  
Light snoring took over Louis' head as he tip-toed to the bathroom, hand flying to his hair and tugged at it anxiously. He'd just had sex. With Harry. God, he'd slept with him. A rich, pretty boy that's gonna break his stupid, little heart. Fuck. And fuck again. But maybe, maybe now that he'd slept with Harry, Harry'd leave him alone. Right? That's how it works.  
  
Louis had his hands on the sink, gripped the slippery porcelain tightly. Breathing was the key, to keep his head as clear as possible. He needed to get out of here, back to the boat. The clock was probably twelve soon enough anyway. Fuck.  
  
He rushed out the bathroom, quietly of course, noticed that Harry was still soundly asleep. He blessed the fact that Harry was a heavy-sleeper in times like that, he'd make sure to remember it. His clothes were scattered all across the floor, socks were miles apart but he grasped everything in his arms before he went out to the hallway. There, he dressed himself swiftly, felt a bit disgusted that he couldn't change his underwear but he could do that back on the boat. Right now, he needed to get out. Get some fresh air in his lungs, get back to work and keep himself busy as long as possible. That's what he needed right now.  
  
He wasn't a gentleman like Harry had been, sneaking out after a great lay, but he did have some kind of manners though, believe it or not. He scribbled down a quick message on the back of an old receipt he had in his pocket, don't ask him why, but he did. And with a last listen for Harry's snoring, he was out. Out and gone and away.  


*~*  


Everything went great. The quietness was exactly what he needed, to sort his mind out and to replace last night with anything else. He couldn't believe himself, that he'd actually gone and _fucked_ with this, with this _kid_. He's _nineteen_ for god's sake, but he was nineteen and so tempting and all Louis wanted to do was to blame those stupid curls or those stupid dimples but he couldn't. The only thing that was stupid was himself.  
  
Quietness didn't last long, which Louis should've predicted. There was still an hour left until he'd actually needed to start working, which was great because he really needed to change his dirty clothed. However, he'd totally forgotten about Niall. And Zayn. And everything. The moment he turned the doorknob around to his cabin, both of them shot out of their beds with eyes bigger than plates. Louis cursed himself, bit his lip as he tried to figure out how to explain it to them. They knew that Louis had gone back with Harry. They knew that Louis spent the night there. Easy to draw several conclusions with those facts in your head. So. Breathe.

"Hey Lou," Zayn greeted friendly. Too friendly.  
  
"Hi," Louis answered unsurely. The silence lasted a heartbeat, before Niall happened.  
  
"Was he any good then? Tell me everything! Or, you know, maybe not everything but, something. I mean, you weren't that drunk, neither was he, so like, are you two a thing or something? After this? Or?"  
  
"Yeah. _Or something_." Louis snorted, walked pass the two of them and dug out his suitcase from underneath Niall's bunk. Zayn sighed, slapped Niall's arm.  
  
"Can you be more _annoying?_ Don't push him." Zayn whispered, loud enough for Louis too hear though. Zayn cleared his throat.  
  
"Louis, babe, are you - Are you alright?" Zayn asked, sounded much like he chose the words carefully. "Not to prod or anything, just, are you okay? Seriously?"  
  
Louis sighed, hands stopped from where they were digging through his suitcase for some clean underwear and he turned his head so that he was facing the two of them. Niall had a red hand-shaped mark on his arm, and Louis wanted to smile. But.  
  
"Yes, Zayn. I am. Seriously. And Niall, no. We're not a _thing._ No, just - Just had a great night last night but I think that's it. Okay? 'S that good enough for you?"  
  
He huffed out a breath, watched how the other two boys nodded, once and sharp.  
  
"Yeah sure. I mean, that's good enough," Niall said, " _for now._ "  
"'M sorry Lou, but you just seem a bit tense 's all. Wanted to know you were okay." Zayn shrugged, and Louis felt how it tugged at the corner of his lips. Stupid Zayn for being Zayn.  
  
He quickly walked up to the two of them, wrapped his arms around them best he could.  
  
"'M glad you're worrying 'bout me. But I promise you that 'm perfectly fine. Alright?"  
  
The other two boys nodded, slightly difficult because of the group hug but it didn't matter. They were fine. Everything was fine.  
  
"Now, I just wanna take a shower before work. The ladies wouldn't appreciate me stinking I guess." Louis broke out from the hug, grabbed the pair of fresh undies from his suitcase and dashed through them both and hurried into the bathroom. He reeked of sex and sweat and _Harry_ and he wanted it all off. He needed to get his mind off of that curly-haired boy.

And if he cried in the shower, no one had to know.

*~*  
  
  
Lunch went fast. People were a bit hungover from yesterday, and the boat itself hadn't actually left New York yet. It would leave in the afternoon, around 4 PM from what Louis had understood from Liam's _welcome-back-to-work-speech._ Which, was very long and boring, and to be completely honest, Louis stopped listening after a couple of minutes.  
  
But, could you blame him? He knew that Harry wouldn't be there, not at lunch, but he'd certainly be there at dinner. He could not avoid him, not while being their permanent waiter, as Harry had fixed earlier. Thing was, Louis didn't know what Harry felt after, _their night together_ , and he wasn't sure he even wanted to find out. He felt so stupid, for finally giving in to Harry, to finally sleep with him. Harry'd been great, absolutely fantastic, but. But. Louis was stupid, but not stupid enough to let him develop anything for this bloke. Nothing. He wouldn't let something like that happen.  
  
Getting his heart broken wasn't on his list of things he wanted right now, especially not by some rich boy who's great in bed. No, he wasn't _that_ stupid. Maybe Harry could be the smart one here. Act like it never happened and just eat his dinner without sending Louis any questioning glances, or even the dirty and filthy ones they've shared before. Maybe Harry was supposed to be the smart one here.

*~*

Well. Harry wasn't the smart one here.  
  
Louis had been receiving several glances from Harry, throughout the entire evening. It was awkward, avoiding them at all costs when you literally put the plate in front of him. They were in fact questioning, he didn't smile cheekily as he used to. And Louis understood, but begged him on the inside to drop it. It was one night. One mistake. Something Louis couldn't take back, but at the same time didn't want to elaborate.  
  
It was when Harry's hand accidentally (at least from Louis side, but) touched his when he placed Harry's desert in front of him, that Louis lost it. Harry _did_ notice how Louis breath hitched, which was embarrassing. Fuck. He cursed himself all the way back to the kitchen, ignored how red his cheeks was and felt Harry's gaze burn through his clothes. Fuck. Fuck.  
  
He'd done so well, so well until that. And, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

*~*  


Zayn and Niall didn't pressure him about Harry. Louis appreciated that very much, blessed them both silently.  
Harry had sent him a text last night, around lunch. Louis read it once he'd gotten home after dinner, wondered how he'd missed it.  
  
 _'thx for the note, and for last night. xx'_  
  
The x's killed him. The painful feeling of _guilt,guilt,guilt_ flowed through his abdomen. This was torture, because he'd actually gotten pretty fond of that curly-haired bloke. Believe it or not, but that night at the top deck was pretty... great. Absolutely great. But Harry meant trouble, and Louis' first instinct when it came to trouble, was to avoid. Pretty understandable after all.  
  
Harry was a fucking rich boy, got everything served on a silver plate and if he'd asked for a baby elephant by the afternoon, they'd have it in an hour. Louis was.. nothing like that. If he wanted anything, he'd have to work for it. Hard. But Harry had seemed so genuine, not like a typical stuck-up brat would act. He'd joked, laughed at Louis' shit ones, and he'd just seemed so down to earth. Which had surprised Louis, massively. He wanted to believe it wasn't fake, that Harry genuinely cared for Louis, wanted to make him laugh and smile. But being screwed over wasn't an alternative either. Too much pain, too little glue left to mend his scattered heart back together again.  
  
Not. A. Freaking. Alternative.  
  
Dinner couldn't have been any more awkward. Oh wait, it probably would be for the rest of the week. _Let's see which night'll be the most awkward._  


*~*  


_'lou, are we okay? you wanna meet up? xx'_  
  
 _'louis, can we talk at least? can you answer me? x'_  
  
 _'please dont ignore me x'_

The x's became fewer and fewer, Louis noticed. Huh.

Third day of gently avoiding Harry. It was hard, to say the least. Louis wanted, he wanted so badly to just grab the collar of that stupid cute shirt he was wearing to dinner every night and just snog the breath out of that stupid boy. He wanted so badly, to just fit his lips behind the shell of the younger boy's ears, whisper things that couldn't be said out loud. He wanted, he truly did.  
  
He wasn't _in love_ , no, but he certainly was _something_. Very much into that boy, that's what he was.  
  
  
After dinner on the third night, the three musketeers were about to walk back to their cabin after another (very awkward) dinner. Naturally, a tall, lanky boy stood leaning against the wall beside the stairs leading down to their cabin. Louis heart might've stopped.  
  
  
"Louis, can we talk?" Harry asked, deadpanned.  
  
Zayn and Niall glanced at Louis nervously, and Louis swallowed thickly.  
  
"I - Sure." What else could he say? He couldn't come up with a lie so fast, especially not a believable one. "I'll see you back in our room," Louis whispered to Zayn and Niall who merely nodded before they slowly headed down the first stairs.  
  
Silence overtook as Harry watched the two boys disappear beyond earshot. Once the boys were no longer seen nor heard, he turned his gaze towards Louis, who fiddled nervously with his hands.  
  
"Why've been avoiding me?" Straight to the point. Louis faltered.  
"I haven't been - "  
"Don't pull that shit on me," Harry interrupted quickly, "Is something wrong? With us?" His gaze softened, eyes were unusually glossy tonight. They didn't have the same sparkle in them.  
  
"No," Louis whispered, his voice felt to thick for anything louder.  
  
"Was it, eh, the night in New York? Did you not want to.. I'm sorry if that's the case." Harry murmured sadly, voice died at the end of the sentence.  
  
"No, no. Don't be stupid." _Please be the smart one._ "It's not that, I just.. Need to think. Is that alright?" Louis asked carefully.  
  
Harry went completely silent for a couple of seconds.  
  
"Yeah. Yeah sure, whatever you need Lou." And the nickname had never hurt so much to hear, never ever. He was so sorry.  
"I'm so sorry. Just need to think. Please." Louis was on the verge of tears, throat thick.  
"Yeah. 'M just gonna go then."

With that, Harry nodded once, short and sharp, before he left the lobby within seconds. Louis dragged his hand over his face, breathed deep and harsh.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid._  


*~*  


Waking up was harder now.  
Working was harder now.  
And can you believe, that all it took was two best friends?

So, Niall and Zayn had been suspicious towards Louis ever since New York. Quite frankly, they had every right to be, too. Louis had clearly avoided anything related to that night, of you even mentioned the name 'Harry', he'd immediately start talking about something completely different. And they noticed. And recognized. And took action.  
  
"Louis." Zayn said firmly after dinner on the fourth night.  
  
"Yeah Zayn?"  
  
All three of them laid in their bunks, only Niall's reading lamp was on, just to make it easier for them to see each other.  
  
"You need to stop moping." There it was. Louis stirred around in his bed, propped himself up on one elbow so that he was staring down at Zayn with a frown on his face.  
  
"'M not moping." He wasn't moping, was he?  
"You're moping."  
"You've been moping since that bloody night in New York," Niall commented from underneath Louis.  
"'M not - "  
  
"You _are._ Stop denying it and tell us what happened there." Zayn demanded, soft but still demanding. Louis sighed, laid back down on his bed. He did not want to do this, he'd been so good at avoiding this subject for so long.  
  
"I don't wanna."  
  
"We're gonna ask that Harry-boy then", Niall shrugged even though Louis couldn't see him. "'M sure he'd tell us."  
  
Louis moved faster than anything, and with his hands holding him securely, he stared down at Niall, leaned over the tiny rail.  
  
"You wouldn't," he said lowly.  
"Oh but I would," Niall countered, Zayn agreeing from his bunk.  
  
"Louis please, you can tell us anything. We don't want to see you this, this grumpy and sour," Zayn begged softly.  
  
Louis groaned, sighed once more. "Do I really have to?"  
  
"Yes! Otherwise we _will_ ask Harry. Don't doubt the irish-man or you'll regret it," Zayn threatened.  
  
"Alright," Louis groaned again, "But don't judge me."  
"Honey, we'd never, _ever_ do that. Don't be ridiculous." Niall said sweetly.  
  
And he told them. From their first kiss in the elevator, to the bar, to his hotel room, to the morning after. To now. Everything. Okay, Niall had asked for details around the, er, sex, but Louis had refused, not to be blamed for.  
  
"Niall, you're _straight"_ , he scolded but the blonde just laughed harder.  
  
"Sex's sex man, a hole's a hole, innit?" And ew.  
  
"Ew Niall! Shut the fuck up, alright!" And Louis lost his one and only pillow when it made contact with Niall's face, but, totally worth it because he shut up. Sort of anyway.  
  
" _However Louis,_ " Zayn began, overpowered Niall's laughing, "I don't understand why you wouldn't tell us from the beginning. This wasn't anything to be ashamed of, darling."  
  
Louis squirmed. He wasn't ashamed, he was scared. He told Zayn as much.  
  
"Louis Tomlinson, _scared_? What is this shit, you're not scared of anything! You could literally steal a police car  _with_ a police in it, and still laugh. You, being scared, _is bullshit_."  
  
"Yeah Lou, what on earth are you afraid of?" Niall asked and popped his head out to stare up at Louis.  
  
"I'm just scared. I like this guy. Kinda. And I'm.. I'm gonna fuck shit up. He's so different from me, we wouldn't work. We don't match. We're not from the same side of the society to even begin with." Louis explained quietly. "I've fucked things up already."  
  
"No, no baby you haven't. You're scared, and that's completely normal," Zayn sounded so soft and caring that Louis' heart ached a bit.  
  
"You need to talk to him though, sort things out," Niall said easily. "And explain why the fuck you've been ignoring his ass since you two had it on."  
  
"Niall!" Louis yelled, wished he'd saved his pillow for now instead. His middle-finger had to do.  
  
"He's right though, Louis. You need to talk it through, seriously." Niall agreed wholeheartedly.  
"I'll talk with him tomorrow," Louis promised.  
  
"After dinner, alright? Wouldn't want you to have any work to interrupt your make-up sex would ya?" Niall laughed.  
  
"Niall I swear to God I will cut your -"  
  
"Both of you shut up. Niall, go to sleep. Louis, text your boy to meet you outside the bar after dinner. That entire deck's closed then, right?"  
  
Louis nodded. Zayn seemed to have a plan, not unusual though.  
  
"Good. Use your card to get inside the closed doors to that deck, and there you two can talk."  
"Wow, Zayn, have you thought this through or what?" Louis sounded impressed, much because he was.  
"Don't want to brag, but maybe," Zayn shrugged with a smug smile on his face.  
"Alright big guy, I guess I'll text him then?"  
"Don't ask us Lou, just do it." Niall muttered.  
  
"Alright. I can do this." Louis said mostly to himself, reached out for the phone on the nightstand. God. Breathe, breathe is the key.  
  
 _'hey, do you want to talk? tomorrow? after dinner?'_  
  
Sending, sending, sent. Alright. Keep the air flowing through your lungs, please.  
  
"I sent it. Oh my god I sent it." Louis repeated it once more, just for good measure perhaps.  
"Everything's gonna be fine, love. Get your beauty sleep now, and sort this shit out tomorrow, alright?" The last word melted into a long yawn, Zayn turned around to face the wall.  
  
"Yeah. I hope so too, Zayn." Louis whispered to the tunes of Niall's snoring, before the screen to his phone lit up. His heart began to race inside his chest, hammered against his rib cage. Shit, fuck, cock.  
  
 _'i'd love to'_  
  
Simple. Clean. Easy.  
  
With shaky fingertips, he tapped out another message before he completely locked it and put it on the nightstand.  
  
 _'after dinner, meet me outside the doors. i'll guide you from there.'_

Not even the sounds of the waves lulled him to sleep that night, and the thought of what tomorrow would bring didn't either. Tiredness knocked him out not many hours before the day would even begin.  


*~*  


During the entire day, his skin was on fire. His fingertips tingled, his toes curled in his shoes. His jeans felt tighter, his clothes felt tighter. His heart was beating faster than a race car drove, and he couldn't stop licking his lips. Out of nervousity? Probably. His stomach was crazier than a fucking zoo without any cages. He hadn't eaten any breakfast, afraid it'd come back up again if he'd try.  
Lunch was over. Still hadn't eaten anything. But, a couple more hours until dinner. The clock was ticking, but still not fast enough. He wanted to get this over with, to explain everything to Harry and move on. Explain and move on, that was his plan.

 

But Louis was never good at making plans. Not sticking to them either.

So when dinner was over, he waited a couple of minutes before he'd walk out to meet Harry. He would still be in his working clothes, but that didn't matter. He'd just talk to him, _explain and move on, explain and move on._ He repeated that in his head, like a prayer.  
  
Harry looked absolutely stunning tonight. If it was because of Louis, he didn't know. But he did however, looked stunning that is. Though Louis might question his choice of shirt.  
  
It was black, fitted quite good around the long torso. But the pattern was the thing he'd question. Small, white hearts were printed on the shirt, making it look all cute and pretty at the same time. The standard black, skinny jeans were on, and all Louis could think about was how hard they were to get off. Which, was completely inappropriate now that he was about to talk to Harry. If he'd be sporting a boner, the conversation might be quite difficult to bear through.

"Hi," Louis said a little bit breathlessly.  
"Hey." Harry answered, no smile evident on his lips. Which was okay, totally okay.  
  
"I - Follow me," Louis hesitated, before he grasped Harry's large hand in his and dragged him out if that room. They were headed towards the bar, and the pool, who were closed this time of the evening. The only bar being open was the one a couple of decks up, and another pool could be found were the saunas were. So, they would be alone, completely alone.  
  
With a drag of his card, the doors opened easily and he let Harry in after himself.  
  
"Is this even legal?" Harry asked cautiously, glanced around almost nervously. The lights were off, leaving only the sky above them as a light to guide them over the empty deck.  
"I don't know. Like we've ever listened to laws anyway," Louis shrugged as he lead Harry further away over the floor, until he reached the bar.  
  
The chairs were still outside the bar, the moon reflected on the pool's surface and lightened up the place if just a little bit. Enough to make out Harry's face as they sat down on two of the chairs.  
  
The light illuminated casted shadows on his faint cheekbones, painted the skin even paler than usual. His eyes did not sparkle, no, they were a tired and dull kind of green, nothing like they used to be. Louis linked his own fingers together, to keep him from fiddling around with them or do something even more awkward perhaps.  
  
"So." Louis said once they were both seated and the silence had become uncomfortable.  
"So." Harry repeated, much slower and almost as if it was a question. Louis took it as one.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Harry blinked. "For what?"  
  
"For being a complete dickhead," Louis gaze stuck to the floor, "and for completely ignoring you for the last couple of days."  
"You are a dickhead," Harry agreed but his tone was light. Louis swiftly met Harry's eyes, caught the hint of a smile in the corner of his lips. So maybe he wasn't that angry.  
  
"I just - I'm not sure. About this. About us," Louis continued quietly. "I don't know if I can, like, start something with you if -"  
  
Harry interrupted him softly. "Lou."  
  
Louis stopped talking, left his mouth open though just to be ready to speak again. Harry didn't let him.  
  
Harry's hand trailed to the first button of his shirt, quickly popped it open. And the next one. And the one after that. Then he pulled away the collar from his neck, tilted his head a bit to expose his neck. Louis didn't understood at all to begin with. Why on earth did he unbuttoned his freaking shirt? Was he going to be a giant tease _now?_  
  
And there, on the fair skin, with the moonlight dancing on it, there it was. A nearly faded bruise, still a bit purple and stood out drastically in contrast to Harry's skin.  
  
"I'm yours Lou," Harry's voice was rough suddenly, "I've been yours since that night. If you'll have me of course, that is."  
  
Louis doesn't even remember it, the bruise _he'd_ put on Harry's skin. The bruise that _he'd_ sucked onto that beautiful boy, the boy that proudly showed it off to him right now. It hadn't faded. And in that moment he thought, yeah, maybe he does want him.  
  
"Yeah." It's barely a breath, not even classified as a whisper but it's there. Harry heard it.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Yeah I do want you. I want you now. I wanted you before. I want you tomorrow. But I was scared. I mean, I still am. Scared to death."  
"What scares you so much Lou, so much that you''d push me away?" Harry's face crumbled into a frown, a silly frown that made Louis' heart jump. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes because he couldn't stand to look at Harry right now.  
  
"What am I compared to you? A poor little boy with an apartment as big as your toilet. I can't afford a broken heart Harry. Shit, I can't barely afford food for the entire month. So I'm scared." He exhaled slowly, felt his pulse quicken inside of him.  
  
"Don't be," Harry spoke softly, soothing almost. "You can't compare yourself to me, that's not fair. What's not fair either, is that you'd think I'd leave you just because you're poorer than me." Harry made a face of disgust, scrunched his nose up and shook his head slightly. "That's unfair. I don't care how rich you are, silly. If you'd be he richest man alive, and still this fucking nice, I'd like you anyway. I promise."  
  
"You think you can promise something like that?" Louis said in a small voice, saw how Harry nodded his head slightly.  
  
"For someone like you, yeah. Yeah I think I can." And if Louis heart didn't melt then, he couldn't tell.  
  
"I, uh, I uh - Fuck. Harry." Louis stopped breathing. Stopped talking. Stopped thinking. And for a second, he suspected he stopped living too. But when his heart sped up again, blood flowed all the way out to his fingertips, he was refilled with the _need_ to kiss Harry. Harry, Harry, _Harry_.  
  
Clumsy as hell, he lunged forward from his chair, parted Harry's legs and placed himself between them. All in the matter of seconds. His hands flung up to Harry's lovely, luke-warm cheeks, and before he'd waste any more of those precious seconds, he kissed him.  
  
Lips pressed against lips, a bit chapped and the kiss was far too dry to even be called a real one perhaps, but it was fantastic. Incredible, was what it got when Harry _finally_ responded and his hands came to rest at Louis' waist, securely. His tongue worked its way into Louis' mouth, seemed fairly familiar when it swept over the roof of his mouth. Harry tasted like heaven and hell, at the same time, a burning sensation rippled through Louis' body when Harry's hands came to grip a bit tighter around his waist.  
  
Louis trailed small pecks down Harry's jaw, much because he needed to _fucking breathe._  
  
"I'm sorry though," Louis mouthed against the sharp jawline. "For ignoring you. For leaving you that morning with nothing but a _stupid_ note."  
"You write neatly," Harry murmured and, and Louis felt the laugh bubbling up from his throat.  
  
"Your'e - _god,_ Harry it's okay to be mad at me. I would've been," he confessed into the tickling curls behind Harry's ear.  
"I am mad," Harry said. "I am _very, very_ mad at you."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Louis scoffed. "Funny way of showing it, Haz."  
  
 _"I am very mad at you because,_ " Harry ignored Louis' comment. "Because if you weren't such an idiot we could've done so many things these last couple of days, instead of not talking to each other."  
  
Harry's hands had sneaked around to Louis' back, crept lower and lower down the outside of his tight jeans until they rested firmly on Louis' bum. Well. He couldn't argue about it not feeling good, because it did. It felt fucking great.  
  
"Yeah? Tell me Harry, what would we have done?" Louis asked softly, nibbled on Harry's earlobe with both teeth and tongue.  
  
It didn't go unnoticed, the hitch of Harry's breath gave him away. The mood changed swiftly, and thinking about the things they could've done made Louis' abdomen tighten, his cock twitched involuntarily in his pants. Well fuck.  
  
"I would've done so dirty things to you, on this boat. Would've taken you to my room, take you apart piece by piece," Harry groped him now, shamelessly and it should probably have been embarrassing, the way Louis moaned at that, but really, it wasn't.  
  
"What, what about now?" Louis breathed out, his mind was probably clouded with the pulse of his throbbing erection to even think properly. Harry laughed.  
  
"What do you mean? Want me to take you apart _here?_ " He asked in half disbelief, half mockingly.  
  
"I - Shit, I really wanna suck you off."  
  
And who would Harry be to say no to that?  
  
If anything, Harry's cock stiffened inside his jeans, and he probably groaned out loud when Louis dropped to his knees in front of him. The barstool was a little too high up for Louis to be able to reach Harry's cock, but it was easily adjusted with a small lever on the underside of the chair. Harry held back a chuckle when he sank down low enough to have Louis' face in front of his zipper, and the urge to laugh immediately disappeared when Louis' dainty hands reached out to undo his pants.  
  
The poor light made it difficult to see all the contours of Louis' face when he quickly undid the fly and pushed both the jeans and Harry's briefs down, about to mid-thigh before the eagerness overtook. When his fingers wrapped around the girth of the hard shaft, Harry sighed happily. Louis gave him a few strokes, slow and teasing.  
Harry fitted his hand around Louis' right cheek, thumbed at the corner of his mouth. Louis took it as an invitation to suck on his thumb, and in a second he had his lips wrapped around it meanwhile he pumped Harry's cock.  
  
"Holy fuck," Harry whispered, and with wide eyes he watched his thumb disappear all the way inside Louis' wet mouth. And it was hot. Really fucking hot.  
  
"You gonna do that to my cock? Take it all the way down your throat?" Harry inquired, raised one eyebrow while Louis bobbed his head once, twice, thrice.  
  
"Mhm," Louis hummed with the thumb still in his mouth, looked up at Harry through his eyelashes. Harry's head was leant backwards a bit, still able to watch Louis actions though.  
  
But enough with the thumbsucking, time to take it up a notch or two.  
  
"C'mon babe, wanna cum on your face," Harry urged with a groan. Louis pulled off with a small pop, smirked devilishly up at Harry when he stopped his hand and rested it at the base of Harry's cock instead.  
  
He wet his lips once, leaned down to enclose his lips around the head of his cock. Harry was big, which, he knew that, and he always took it as a challenge to see exactly how deep he could take someone. He'd deepthroated before, but maybe not someone as huge as Harry. Well, he was going to change that now.  
  
The key to deepthroating someone, is the slow build. It sounds terrible, having to suck someone for a long time before _finally_ being able to get the whole thing down one's throat. But Louis was practically born to suck cock, it was written in the stars because he did not have any kind of gag reflexes. Like, at all. It's like the universe _wanted_ him to be gay, to suck cock, and he was more than fine with that. Sure he probably had _some_ kind of reflexes, but god he could take a lot of things down his throat before even the thought of gagging appeared in his mind. It was purely a blessing.  
  
With the head past his pink lips, Harry's hands tousled into his hair. Not pushing him down any further, just a reminder of _I'm here_ , in case Louis happened to forget. Louis bobbed his head slowly, made his throat known to what was coming. Which was Harry. Eventually.  
  
"Feels so fucking good, Lou," Harry hissed. Louis wanted to pull of then, tell him that the best was yet to come. But he didn't, only took another inch inside the slick heat of his mouth, relished keening noises that Harry let spill into the air. His throat relaxed much more by now, with more than half of Harry's cock down his throat.  
  
Louis dug his fingernails into the flesh of Harry's skin with the one hand he didn't have wrapped around his cock, pretty confident about how good those marks would look after he'd be finished. There wasn't much left of Harry's cock to take in now, he absolutely loved the feeling of having the head of his cock hitting the roof of his mouth, slid easily due to all the saliva Louis was producing.  
  
"Shit Lou - I wasn't - wasn't serious when I said you should take it all the way down your throat, _fuck_ ," and that was the reason Louis loved deepthroating. How surprised they'd get when he nosed at their pubic hair, how much he got praised when they'd spill so deep down his throat or how satisfied his smile got when he saw their blissed out face afterwards. He loved it, loved it to pieces. He wanted to somehow assure Harry that he didn't just do it for his sake, but also for his own sake, so he gently squeezed Harry's thigh, hoped he'd get the message through.  
  
The obscene slurping noises merely increased as Louis finally did it. The entire length of Harry's cock was inside his mouth, lips stretched out to their limit but _god,_ it felt amazing. He would probably have the smuggest smile on his face if he hadn't have this cock so deep down his throat.  
  
"Fuck Lou, I - _Fuck_ you're good. Great even, shit, so fucking great," Harry babbled on, his fingers curled in Louis' hair, and Louis wanted it, wanted more. He pulled off, his throat felt achingly empty but he smacked his lips once before he talked.  
  
"I want you to fuck my face," he begged, "please."  
  
"You sure?" Harry asked, polite as he is. Louis only nodded, fired off a wry smile before he sunk back on Harry's cock, glanced up at him with big, innocent blue eyes. Harry took it as his cue to obey this stunning boy's wishes. Of course.  
  
With his fingers now in Louis' hair for another purpose than to just have something to hold on to, he steered Louis head up and down, moaned loudly at the way Louis' tongue felt pressed against his cock's underside. He thrusted his hip upwards shallowly, the position in the barstool made it a bit difficult for anything else.

He couldn't believe this, how he even could deserve this gorgeous boy who deepthroated him like a fucking pornstar. He was one hundred percent sure that if Louis wanted to earn money on this, he'd become a millionaire within a month. God, his mouth was _sinful_ , lips pink and tantalizing as they stretched out around his thick cock. Unbelievable, was the one word who popped into his mind constantly.  
  
Louis may or may not have staged the choking noises, because he wasn't really choking, but it sounded good and Louis loved how it made Harry's grip tighten in his hair. Louis sneaked a hand down to palm himself through his jeans, believed that he'd definitely cum from just blowing Harry.  
  
"I, _uh -_ 'M gonna cum. Lou, Lou 'M gonna cum soon, just - fuck." Harry was never the one being coherent in times like this, couldn't be blamed either with a boy like Louis at his service. Louis only fastened his pace, bobbed his head equally as fast as the hand he used to palm himself with.

"Lou, 'm cumming, 'm cumming, oh _fuck,_ fuck - fuck - " Louis shoved his cock further down his throat when Harry began to spurt warm, salty cum, wanted to have it as deep down his throat as possible. It made it much easier to swallow, even though he actually kinda liked the taste of cum. Louis' name was being said like a mantra, breathy and thick from Harry's lips as the cum trickled down his throat.  
  
That thought alone had Louis cumming in his pants, like some ridiculous hormonal teenager. When Harry was done cumming, he pulled of gently and coughed once just to make sure everything was swallowed. Harry was still trying to catch his breath, hand in Louis' hair went completely limp and fell to his side.  
  
"That was - fuck, that was absolutely amazing. Where'd you learn that? I mean oh my god, fucking amazing," Harry praised breathlessly.  
  
"I guess practice makes perfect," Louis shrugged, cringed at how wrecked his voice rang in his ears.  
"Oh my god, 'm so sorry 'bout your voice," Harry quickly apologized.  
  
"No, no, babe don't be," Louis rose from his knees and tucked Harry's softening cock back inside his briefs. "I wanted it, promise."  
"I feel bad about you though, do you want me to like, do something for you?" Harry hoped that the poor light would hide his blush.  
  
Louis shook his head, "No I, uh - I fixed it."  
  
"But I didn't eve - Oh. Did you cum in your pants? Oh my god Louis," Harry snickered, like a child and it earned him a smack on his arm by Louis.  
"Stop laughing at me! You were hot, couldn't help it."  
"Oh my god," Harry repeated more softly this time. "C'mere, get on m' lap, babe."  
  
Louis got pulled onto Harry's lap, sat with his legs on each side of Harry's, chest against chest so that their faces were just inches from each other.  
  
"Hi," Louis whispered, and he thought that right now, Harry's sparkle was back and even more sparkling than ever before.  
"Hiya," Harry whispered back.  
  
Louis swallowed once, twice. "I'm still sorry though. We could've done, _that,_ a lot more if I hadn't been such a dick."  
Harry sighed, tangled his own fingers behind Louis' back to keep him from slipping backwards.  
  
"Yes, we probably could have," he started, "but look where it got us. 'S just a shame you didn't get a chance to show that last time." Harry smirked, watched how Louis turned delightfully crimson.  
  
"What time issit?" Louis asked out of nowhere, waited as Harry took a glance on his wristwatch. It was quite hard to determine the exact time because of how dark it was.  
"Around midnight, dunno if it's after or before but, yeah," Harry answered. Louis got off his lap straight away, a horrified look on his face. "What is it?" Harry asked nervously.  
"I've got work tomorrow, and I'd really appreciate a shower b'fore I go to bed," Louis explained. "I'm sorry."  
  
"You apologize to much," Harry scolded. "And I understand babe."  
"We'll definitely see each other tomorrow," Louis quickly promised, "right?"  
  
Harry's sweet laugh filled the fresh air of the night.

"Of course we will, love."  


*~*  


Last night, Louis had tried to sneak back into their room, only to find that both Niall and Zayn was waiting up for him. So, he obviously had to explain what he and Harry had talked about. (He didn't mention the blowjob. Seemed unnecessary.) He'd gotten a slap on the back from both of them, told him that he'd done a good job at sorting everything out. And he felt so too, he really did.  
  
Only today, was their last day before they would be back in Southampton again, and not long after, back in London. So Louis was a bit sad, sue him. He wasn't sure if it was his last day with Harry, he didn't want to think like that. But he didn't know either, where Harry lived currently or what his plans were with their relationship. They hardly knew each other, even though they fitted together like puzzle pieces and fell into each other instantly. It was weird, meeting someone like that. But Louis couldn't help it, nor did he want to fight it. However, he needed to talk to Harry about it, and they would. After dinner though.  
  
The day went slowly, hours trickled slower than honey. Zayn and Niall made it a little bit easier, even if all they did was to tease him about Harry. Niall asked a lot of questions about their sexlife for being a straight guy, which both Louis and Zayn found quite odd.  
  
"What, maybe I'd like to experiment sometime, don't go all judge-y on me!" Niall had exclaimed when they questioned him about it. They assured him that they wouldn't judge him, scolded him too for even thinking like that. So they had made the time before dinner moving a little bit faster, and Louis appreciated that enormously.  
  
Right now though, he was about to take out the last couple of deserts to Harry's table, last two plates before he was finished. Harry looked great tonight, well he always did but. Tonight he wore a black shirt with the first buttons unbuttoned and Louis was ninety percent sure that he could spot that ridiculous butterfly tattoo through the sheer fabric of it too. Which also was really ridiculous.

And all Louis wanted to do was to touch him. So he did.  
When Louis put the last plate down in front of Harry, his fingers lingered for just a second atop of Harry's hand on the table. That was enough. For now.

Louis stayed in the kitchen after both Zayn and Niall had left, told them he'd probably be gone until late tonight. He'd gotten teased about it for a couple of minutes, before both of them wished him all the luck in the world and disappeared out of the swing doors. Louis decided to peek out of the small window on the door, noticed how Harry's entire table had gone empty. So, Harry was probably waiting for him outside.

  
  
The evening was still young, the sun hadn't yet vanished below the waterline. Harry had proposed to walk up to the top deck again, and up the stairs like the first time they met.  
So there they were, watched the orange and pink sky, watched the waves and each other. Mostly each other though. Harry had Louis between the rail and himself, fingers intertwined with each other and rested on top of the rail.  
  
"I want to keep seeing you," Harry had said and tucked his head into the crook of Louis neck. His curls had tickled him, made Louis squirm a bit with a chuckle.  
  
"I want to see you too," Louis answered with a smile.  
  
"Do you live in Southampton?" Harry planted a small kiss behind Louis ear, enough to make him a bit giddy.  
  
"God no. I live in London."  
  
Harry turned him around then, readjusted him by a firm hand on his shoulders and pressed their chests together. Louis found it hard not to swoon when Harry's eyes shone so brightly.  
"I do to." Harry smiled.  
  
"Are you - Are you kidding me now?" Louis smiled too, raised his eyebrow in surprise.  
  
"I'm not. I - Fuck. This is fate or something, I swear to God."  
  
Louis gaze flickered between Harry and the hem of Harry's shirt.  
  
"So you really want to keep seeing me?" He asked lowly, almost getting overpowered by the sound of the ocean.  
  
Harry had kissed him silly, peppered kisses all across his face while he murmured,  
"Yes", _kiss,_ "of," _kiss,_ "course," _kiss,_ "you," _kiss,_ "dolt," _kiss._ And a few more pecks, just for good measure.  
  
"Oh my god, stop it," Louis faintly protested, laugh echoed out into the open air.  
"No I don't wanna stop it, I never want to stop kissing you," Harry pouted before he connected their lips into a real kiss. Louis had kissed him back, _of course._ There wouldn't be a time where he'd ever not kiss Harry back. Never ever.  
  
Harry pulled back a couple of inches, their noses almost bumped into each other and their breath mingled together.  
"Be the Rose to my Jack." Harry whispered.  
  
Louis wondered for a second what the hell he was talking about. _Who's Rose? That's a girls name._ But, eventually, it all came back to him. Their first conversation, well not first but the first one outside work, when Harry admitted that Titanic was one of his favorite movies. And Grease was Louis'.

So naturally, Louis smiled with all teeth showing. And this was sappy, really, really sappy.   
  
"Only if you're the Danny to my Sandy."  
  
  
 _fin._  

**Author's Note:**

> well.
> 
> hope you enjoyed and everything's appreciated. kudos, comments, hate, (maybe not but). 
> 
> [tumblr](http://huntheygay.tumblr.com/) there,  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/larryjohnlock) there. 
> 
> hope you liked it :))))


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